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THE 



ISLAND WORLD 



OF THE 



PACIFIC OCEAN 



BY ^ 

\J CHARI^ES MARION TYI,ER 



r^ 




SAN FRANCISCO, CAL : 

SAMUEL CARSON & CO 

PUBLISH ERvS & BOOK-SEIvIvERS, 

3 SANSOME STREET. 
1887 



Copyrighted, 18S5, 

By CHARLES MARION TYLER. 

Copyrighted, iS8y, 

By SAMUEL CARSON & CO. 



PREFACE. 



Some years ago, it was the author's privilege 
to become interested, in a small way, in trade with 
the South Sea. Although not of great personal profit 
or benefit at the time, so many and varied were the 
commercial interests presented, that a journal was 
kept, of the ups and downs of trade and adventures 
among the Pacific Islands. These notes by the way- 
side, are merged in the following pages. 

From the movements taking place among the 
great maritime powers of the world, England, Ger- 
many, France and America, in regard to the islands 
of the Pacific Ocean, with all of which the intelligent 
reader is familiar, the author is strengthened in the 
hope that a work relating to a region of such vast 
prospective benefits to the United States, and the 
world at large, may be read with some degree of 
interest as well as profit. 

The immense field encompassed within the bound- 
aries of Oceanica, together with many island groups 



iv PREFACE. 

lying beyond Its limits, would make it almost impossi- 
ble to visit and survey in the lifetime of any one 
person. PVom this fact. I am sure the writer will be 
dealt lig-htly with, for the necessary frequent reference 
made to the valuable writings, notes and personal 
experiences of others. 

In the endeavor to brush away the cobwebs of time, 
or brighten up or throw light on the dark shadows 
cast over many portions of Oceanica by the veil of 
romance and tradition, I may perhaps be engaged in 
a herculean ta:;k. 

The truth, however, I am sure will prove "stranger 
than fiction," and a good deal more profitable. In this 
respect some pains have been taken to make the 
following work in regard to history, discovery, eth- 
nology, biography, chronology, geography, area, pop- 
ulation and products, standard and reliable. 



U1 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

OCEAN LORE. 

PAGE. 

Pacific Ocean. — Early Navigators. — Commercial Possibil- 
ities. — ^Japanese Black Stream. — South Sea Bubble 9 

CHAPTER II. 

ISLANDS. 

Galapagos Group. — Marquesas Group. — Island of Juan Fer- 
andez. — The Home of Crusoe. — Pitcairn Island — The 
Bounty Mutineers. — Bread-fruit Tree. — Table of Island 
Groups in North and South Pacific... 21 

CHAPTER III. 

ISLANDS. 

Austral Isles. — Gambler Group. — Society Islands. — Tahiti. 
— Tonga or Friendly Islands. — Hervey or Cook's 
Islands. — Fiji Islands. — New Hebrides Group. — Loyalty 
Islands. — New Caledonia 33 

CHAPTER IV. 

ISLANDS. 

Marshall Islands. — Gilbert Islands. — The Marshall Is- 
landers as Mariners. — Languages of Micronesia. — Flora 
and Fauna of the Marshall and Gilbert Groups. — Mic- 
ronesia. — Religious Beliefs. — Phoenix, Ellis, Union and 
Kermadec Groups. — Navigator (Samoa) Islands. — 
Physical Features of Samoa. — Climate. — Products. — 
Inhabitants. — Religion. — Meteorological. — Banks Is- 
lands. — Santa Cruz Islands. — Solomon Islands 46 

CHAPTER V. 

ISLANDS. 

Caroline Islands. — The Great Atoll of Hogoleu. — Inhabit- 
ants of the Caroline Group. — Pelew Islands — Atolls. — 



vi. CONTENTS. 



PAGE- 



Coral Reefs. — Analogy of Coral Growth to Vegetation. 
— Australia. — Physical Features. — Geological and Geo- 
graphical. — New Zealand. — Tasmania 67 

CHAPTER VI. 

ISLANDS. 

Java. — General Features. — Michelet on Java. — Topography. 
— Climate. — Little Java. — Coffee. — The Island of Bor- 
neo. — Topography. — The Rivers of Borneo. — Vege- 
table and Animal Kingdom. — Diamond Mining, His- 
tory and Value of. -. 81 

CHAPTER VII. 

ISLANDS. 

Sumatra. — Topography. — Animal Life. — Flora. — Climate. 
Inhabitants. — Singapore. — Island of Celebes. — The 
Sangir Group. — Mollucca Islands. — History. — The Nut- 
meg. — Island of Amboyna. — The Clove. — The Choco-* 
late Bean. — The Sago Palm 98 

CHAPTER VIII. 

ISLANDS. 

New Guinea. — Admiralty Islands. — New Ireland. — New 
Britain. — Louisade Archipelago. — Phillippine Islands. 
Topographical Features. — Minerals. — Animals. — The , 
Inhabitants. — The Buccaneer Dampier. — His Account 
of the Plantain. — Tobacco, and its History 116 

CHAPTER IX. 

ISLANDS. 

Islands of the Chinese Empire. — Hainan. — Formosa. — Is- 
lands of Japan. — History. — The Japanese as Early Navi- 
gators. — Topography. — Earthquakes. — Mineral and 
Floral Kingdoms of Japan. — The Inhabitants. — The Tea 
Plant. — The Camphor Tree. — Government and Relig- 
ion of Japan. — The Ladrone Islands. — The Bonin Is- 
lands. — The Anson and Auckland Islands 132 

CHAPTER X. 

ISLANDS. 

Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. — Islands of St. Paul and 
St. George. — Seals, and Seal Fishing. — Their Habits. — 
Method of Killing Seal. — Vancouver Island. — The Pu- 
gct Sound Region. — Ouecn Charlotte Islands. — Islands, 
West Coast United States. — Pacific Islands of Mexico.. 147 



CONTENTS. mi, 

CHAPTER XI. 

ISLANDS. 

PAGE. 

The Sandwich Islands. — Geological and Volcanic Features. 
— The Sugar Cane — Its History. — History of the Ha- 
waiian Group. — The Cotton Plant — Its History. — Prin- 
cipal Islands in the Group. — Volcanic Mountain of 
Mauna Loa. — The Burning Lake of Kilauea. — Island 
Formation. — Islands, Pacific Coast of South America. — 
Guano Islands. — Easter Island 171 

CHAPTER XII. 

ISLAND PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES. 

Pearls and Pearl Fishing. — Habits of the Pearl Oyster. — 
Pearl Dredging. — Pearl Diving. — Noted Fisheries and 
Gems. — Propogation of the Pearl Oyster. — Whale Fish- 
eries. — The Turtle and its Habits. — The Tortoise. — 
Sponge Fisheries 173 

CHAPTER XIII. 

ISLAND PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES. 

The Robber Crab. — The Crab as a Gourmand — As a Lover 
of Cocoanuts. — Their Strength and Tenacity. — The 
Plantain and Banana. — Beche-de-mer Fishing. — Method 
of Fishing. — Contracts with the Natives. — The Cocoa- 
nut. — Trade in, and Value of, the Nut. — Coral, and 
Coral Fishing 188 

CHAPTER XIV. 

ISLAND PRODUCTS AND RESOURCES. 

Paper-— Its History. — Cinnamon. — Indigo. — Teak Wood.— 
Rice. — Silk. — Pineapple. — Manila Hemp. — Pepper. — 
Gutta Percha. — Screw Pine. — Resinous Gum Trees. — 
General Remarks 201 

CHAPTER XV. 

OCEANIC ETHNOGRAPHY. 

Oceanic Races. — Climate. — The Malays. — The Polynesians. 
— The Micronesians. — The Melanesians. — General 
Characteristics. — The Australians. — Their Intellectual 
Capacity. — Influence of Ocean Currents. — Asiatic Influ- 
ences in Peopling America. — Island Races.— The Equa- 
torial Currents. — Taboo. — A Small Tribute to Religious 
Missions and Missionaries 213 



viu. CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

THE BIRTH, GROWTH AND DEATH OF ISLANDS. 

PAGB. 

Volcanic and Earthquake Lore.— Volcanic Fire-belt of the 
Western Hemisphere. — Its Flow through South Amer- 
ica. — Through Central America and Mexico, and the 
Pacific Coast. — Through the Islands. — Theory of Vol- 
canoes and Earthquakes 243 

CHAPTER XVII 

COMMERCE, AND INTEROCEANIC CANALS. 

The Panama Canal. — Memorandum Statement of Panama 
Canal. — Nicaragua Canal. — The Eads Tehuantepec 
Ship Railway. — Commercial Results Anticipated. — Po- 
litical Considerations of the Canal Question 255 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

CURRENTS, WINDS, RAINS AND STORMS OF THE PACIFIC. 

Velocity and Force of Wind. — Monsoons. — Effect of Mon- 
soons. — Typhoons — Their Explanation. — Rainfall of 
the Pacific Islands. — List of (with Latitude and Longi- 
tude) the Principal Harbors in the Island World 270 

CHAPTER XIX. 

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL. 

The Merchants of the Olden Time. — The Phoenicians. — 
Their Commerce. — Their Inventions and Manufactures. 
As Navigators. — The Compass. — Properties of the 
Magnetic Needle. — By Whom Invented. — Homer's 
Knowledge of Ship Building. — Early Navigators of 
the Pacific — (Anson. — Balboa. — Beechey. — "Banks. — 
Bougainville. — Behring. — Byron. — Carteret. — Cook. — 
Cavendish. — Dampier. — Dana. — Darwin. — Drake. — 
Cortez. — Fernandez. — Fitzroy. — Franklin. — Humboldt. 
Kotzebuc. — Krusenstern. — Magellan. — Perry. — Pizar- 
ro. — La Perouse. — Polo. — Ouiros. — Rogers. — Saave- 
dra. — Schoutcn, W. C. — Schouten, G.^^ — Tasman. — 
Vancouver. — Wilkes.) 290 

CHAPTER XX. 

ISLAND MISCELLANY, AND DEPTHS OF THE SEA. 

Norfolk Island. — The Chatam Group. — Ponape or Ascension 
Island. — Strong Island. — Ocean Island. — The Depths 
of the Ocean. — Bottom of the Sea 328 









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il MAI»or,„, PACIFIC OCEAN, 

Showing 

r///7Vv//.v rufrf \'o fern lie Fire Bcff: 




CHAPTER I. 



OCE^AB{ I.^R.K 



Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty'^s form 
Glasses itself in tempests ; in all time, 

Calm or convulsed — in breeze, or gale or storm, 
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime 

Dark heaving — boundless, endless and sublime. — 

^YKOisi {Childe Harold). 



PACIFIC OCEAN. 

IN 15 13, three hundred and seventy-one years ago, 
Balboa was dragging the timbers of his ship across 
the Isthmus of Darien, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific shore. Rebuilding his vessel there, he was the 
first, in our modern day, to sail on the great ocean 
waters. If gifted with supernatural vision, he would 
have seen the Pacific Ocean, spread out over an area 
of eighty million square miles, covering nearly all of 
the western hemisphere. Its mighty Vvaves, laving 
the eastern shores of Asia on the one hand, and the 
western coasts of the two great American continents 
on the other. Reaching almost to the birth-places 
of the ice-bergs of either pole, embracing the heat of 
the Torrid Zones, it includes all the climates of the 
world in its vast limits. He would have seen, north 
of the equator, the Kuro Shiwo, the Japanese Black 



TO THE ISLAND WORLD 

Stream, sweeping in immense circles from left to 
right. South of the line, the Humboldt, or Peruvian 
Cold Current, circling from right to left. Both form- 
ing the highways over which it is thought the Asiatics 
voyaged to people our western world. In the depths 
of the great ocean — nearly three miles — almost beyond 
reach of the sounding-line, would be seen alike, the 
cradle and tomb of the island world of the Pacific. 

Thousands on thousands of islands would come 
into view, like great emeralds dotting the mighty sea ; 
with the tempest, typhoon and hurricane pursuing 
their furious course over the broad expanse of waters^ 
subdued long before the transit of the great sea is 
performed — walled in and held back by the placid 
seas surrounding them. 

So large, indeed, is the Pacific, greater in area 
than all other oceans combined, that the habitable 
portions of our globe, the land, would be lost in its 
limits, and yet a sea larger in extent than the Atlantic 
be left. 

EARLY NAVIGATORS. 

The discovery, location and conquest of many 
islands of the Pacific Ocean comes to us, out of the 
dim past, surrounded by a halo of romance. The 
names of famous navigators rise up in the mind, 
recalled by history, as pioneers in the mighty progress 
of the new world. 

The quaint accounts of Captains Cook and Wallis 
were taken up and confirmed by the old salts of Nan- 
tucket and New Bedford. Their stories of the wealth, 
beauty and fertility of the myriads of islands met with 
in their whaling voyages, has long excited the curiosity 
of the world. The singular fatality, too, that seems 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN iz 

to have followed nearly all the fathers of navigation 
in the Pacific has but added interest in their voyages 
and discoveries. Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who took 
possession of the entire South Sea in the name of 
the Pope, fell under the headsman's axe. Magellan, 
the first to reach the Indies, by a western route, 
through the Straits that bear his name, died by the 
sword, in a petty religious quarrel with some island 
king. Alonzo de Saavedra, he who attempted the 
passage of the North Pacific, from Manilla to Mexico, 
the reputed discoverer of New Guinea, which he named 
Tierra de Oro, met a lowly fate on the equator. 

This same Saavedra, was probably the first to 
propose cutting a canal through the Isthmus of Darien, 
at Panama. In his proposition to the King of Spain 
on this subject, and in his memoirs, he goes into the 
enterprise In detail, and recommends the forcible 
employment of the inhabitants of that region, to 
accomplish his object. He states that "Providence 
had evidently placed them there, in order that they 
by their labors, might assist in the extension of the 
commerce of Christendom." Captain Cook fell among 
the savages of the Sandwich Islands. Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert was lost in a storm at sea. The chains and 
anchors of the vessel of M. de la Perouse were found, 
but his ultimate fate has never been ascertained. Oth- 
ers, like William Dampier, Roggewein and Fernando 
Quiros, were destined to what many would consider 
a more melancholy ending. Dying in poverty, for- 
gotten, unhonored and unsung, in their native land. 
Of Quiros, Cardinal Valenza says: 'T have seen In a 
wine-shop of Seville, one Fernando Quiros, who had 
been an adventurer in the Indies and beyond, and 
who told me he had seen there people who did eat 



12 THE ISLAND WORLD 

their wives and other relatives, in place of consigning 
them to the tombs, which did not so much surprise 
me, seeing that the same thing has been related by 
the ancients." 

COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES. 

It is only of very late years that we — I speak more 
])articularly of the inhabitants of the Pacific Coast — 
have begun to reap commercial benefits, in a large 
way, from traffic with the islands of the South Sea. 
Growing rapidly as we are in wealth and population, 
the time has come when every effort should be made 
to encompass a large share of the trade. The won- 
derful impetus which is now being given to commercial 
enterprise on the western coast of North America, by 
the completion of three continental railways across our 
country, with still another under way, will go far to 
make San Francisco one of the greatest commercial 
cities on the globe. 

Fifty years ago the multitudinous islands of the 
Pacific were but little known. Their vast number, 
nearly 8,000 — their area fully 4,600,000 square miles 
— populated by over 77,000,000 inhabitants, are yet 
almost as an unknown land to our people. 

If we compare the area, exports and imports of 
the Sandwich Islands (with the port of San Francisco 
alone) with the area of the Pacific Islands, whose 
exports and imports, are now about ^700,000,000 per 
annum, the values would reach the vast sum of $7,790,- 
000,000. Something over ^v^ times the average 
annual exports and imports of the United States for 
the last four years. 

Truly "there is a wonderful land: a land of 
fertility, of spices, of valuable fibres, of sago and 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 13 

cinnamon, of sandal wood and gold," and widiout a 
doubt die islands of die Soudi Sea, are of diis de- 
scripdon. The climate is unsurpassed in any part of 
the world, and is both conducive to health and lon- 
gevity. With the thermometer rarely below 65 de- 
grees, and hardly ever reaching above 86 degrees, 
we have a perpetual summer of so delightful a tem- 
perature that working men of Europe or America may 
devote themselves to a life of pleasant and profitable 
labor all the year 'round. If we add to this, lands of 
inexhaustible fertility, we have within easy distance of 
our port millions on millions of acres of soil, far sur- 
' passing that of the famed West Indies. 

When it is considered that the area of the latter 
islands is only about one-fiftieth of the islands of the 
South Sea, that the population exceeds that of the 
West Indies nearly eighteen times, that the exports 
and imports of the latter are over seventy-five millions 
per annum, some idea may be formed of the vast com- 
mercial interests that will arise from the occupation, 
development and trade with the islands of the Pacific. 

With the exception of the more prominent islands 
put down on the list, already well known to the com- 
mercial world, the great majority remain as a sealed 
book, so far as their agricultural, mineral and other 
qualifications are concerned. In fact, if any trade has 
ever existed among them, it has been carried on by 
men without means, who have become tired of the sea, 
castaways, pirates and refugees. A class as much 
to be feared as the traditional man-eater. It is not 
strange, therefore, that the many valuable interests 
that could could be developed in these garden-spots 
of the world suffer and languish when under the 
control of such spirits. 



14 THE ISLAND WORLD 

THE JAPANESE BLACK STREAM. 

San Francisco lies directly in the track of the 
great ocean current, that, like the Gulf Stream of the 
Atlantic, flows in the Pacific. This current is known 
as the Kuro Shiwo, or Japanese Black Stream. If we 
assume its point of commencement to be off the coast 
of Japan, it would trend northerly from that country, 
one portion flowing to and around the Aleutian Isles 
in Behring Sea, while the other, or main current, flows 
more to the east, towards our northern coast, which 
it reaches just south of Queen Charlotte Islands, off 
the coast of British Columbia. Running thence 
southerly along the shores of Washington Territory 
and Oregon, and along the coast of California, it turns 
south by west just off the harbor of San Francisco. 
Dividing again at this point, one stream flows by the 
Hawaiian Isles, *and westerly among the islands of the 
North Pacific, and again northerly to the coast of 
Japan. The other division flows in a more southerly 
direction until the equator is reached, where it turns 
to the west, running among the myriads of islands 
in that region, turning to the north, and flowing by 
and to the east of the Philippines, reaching an as- 
sumed starting point off the coast of Japan. The 
Kuro Shiwo flows at the rate of ten to fifteen miles 
per day, and must in its great silent way render invalu- 
able service in helping preserve the temperate climate 
along the coast as well as in the interior of the States 
bordering the Pacific. Its great value in favoring 
commerce to and from our port with the lands of the 
South Sea, can hardly be over estimated. 

With the completion of the Panama and Nica- 
ragua canals, great commercial gateways will be 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 75 

opened between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and 
a trade with the whole world offered to the islands of 
the Pacific that will in time become gigantic in its 
proportions. To encompass this, it is safe to predict 
that the great maratime powers will contend. 

Commercial cities like New York, Boston, New 
Orleans and San Francisco will grasp at the facilities 
offered by the short routes created by the canals, and 
the sails of all nations will dot the southern seas. 

A personal experience among the islands of the 
Pacific in commercial and other ventures, leads me to 
write on this subject, with a little knowledge and a 
great deal of interest. While it would take volumes 
to do justice to this subject, in a detailed account, it 
shall be my endeavor to present such features and 
facts in a condensed form as may interest and prove 
of value to many readers. Among the myriads of 
islands, which I have placed In groups, as will be seen 
in the tables, I have given but a short description of 
one or more in a group. It being understood that 
the description may be accepted as generally applica- 
ble to all the islands of a particular cluster, excepting 
perhaps, the number of inhabitants, size and locality, 

SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. 

One of the obstacles to be surmounted in favora- 
bly presenting the vast interests to be found in those 
garden-spots of the world, the Pacific Islands, is the 
ban put upon all concerted ventures that have been 
attempted in these regions by the great financial 
crash of the South Sea company in years long passed 
away. In fact, the term "South Sea Bubble" is gen- 
erally used as a synonym for all enterprises not 



i6 THE ISLAND WORLD 

based upon solid foundations, the popular impression 
prevailing- that the great failure of this company came 
from commercial and other ventures made in the 
South Sea. 

The truth is, the company had no ventures or 
interests in that region resulting in failure, for if we 
except one vessel only, that made a trading voyage in 
1717, and that, too, to Spanish South America, in the 
interests of the corporation, there are no accounts of 
practical commercial operations entered into in the 
Pacihc by this company. IVue, they had some valua- 
ble privileges from the English Government, as well 
as from Spain, that theory and misrepresentation 
easily built into a supposed practical trading mo- 
nopoly, although their operations w^ere principally 
financial and stock jobbing, and confined altogether 
to London. 

The fabulous stories and traditions of the Spanish 
South American countries, among which were Chile 
and Peru, the vast Wealth in gold, silver and jewels, to 
gether with well concocted stories of the wonderful pro 
ductions of the soil, and the supposed exclusive rights 
obtained from the king of Spain, formed the corner- 
stone of the South Sea Company. After the treaty 
of Utrecht, Spain withdrew all grants and privileges 
made to the corporation, yet the wealth and power of 
its directors, with the prestige of a long list of rich 
stockholders, enabled the company to retain a footing 
in great financial circles. As a valuable support to 
the schcMues of the corporation, the wonderful pro- 
ducts of the Pacific Islands, then making their way 
into all parts of Asia and Iun*ope, were used as a 
lever in its advancement. The shells, pearls, fruits 
and spices, the whalebone and oil, the rich results 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN ly 

of land and sea, were cunningly interwoven into a 
project that at one time set all Europe wild with greedy 
anticipation. 

In 171 1, the Earl of Oxford, who was Lord Treas- 
urer of the Kingdom, finding the credit of the Govern- 
ment somewhat impaired, conceived the scheme of 
funding a portion of the national debt of Great Britain, 
then amounting, in round numbers, to $155,000,000. 
Of this sum, he proposed to fund $50,000,000 by issu- 
ing bonds of the Government, which were to be paid, 
interest and principal, by special regular duties upon 
silks, wines, tobacco, and some of the other most val- 
uable importations. Purchasers of the bonds were to 
receive a certain amount of South Sea stock with each 
Government bond, that stock being then considered of 
sufficient value to offer a tempting bait in attempting 
to float the amount required. The credit of the Gov- 
ernment, with the six per cent, interest, together with 
the shares of the South Sea Company, and certain trad- 
ing privileges allowed to the corporation in trade with 
South America, made it an easy matter to fund the 
$50,000,000. 

Meantime, the company was using every influence 
to establish and enlarge its credit, and though partially 
opposed in its schemes by many of the great statesmen 
and financiers of Europe, the Bank of England and 
the East India Company, the advancement of the 
''bubble" interests met with a curious success on 
every hand. But it was not until 1720 that the com- 
pany reached the zenith of its influence and power, 
which culminated in offerino- to take the whole national 
debt of Great Britain on its shoulders at a reduced 
interest, but otherwise on similar terms to the first 
loan. In 17 19, so many and great had become the 



i8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

schemes of the company, that it was found necessary 
to increase its capital stock to nearly $60,000,000, with 
shares set at a par value of $500. 

The Bank of England, fearful of the rapidly-growing 
power of the South Sea Company, made a similar 
proposition to the Government, offering as a premium 
$15,000,000. This offer was more than doubled 
by the South Sea Company. Under the wing of even 
royalty itself, and with emissaries and agents in every 
quarter promulgating the most fabulous stories, backed 
up by the free use of money and presents of stock, the 
corporation had their offer accepted in both Houses of 
Parliament, by a vote of 83 to 1 7 in the House of Lords 
and 172 to 55 in the Commons. So well were the plans 
laid, and so general was the desire for speculation, that 
the shares of the company were eagerly sought after 
at $1,500 per share. On the 14th day of April, 1720, 
subscription books were opened to the public, of $10,- 
000,000 of stock at $1,500 per share, and was almost 
immediately taken, with $1,000,000 more before the 
books were closed. On the 30th of April of the same 
month and year, a further amount of $5,000,000 was 
offered at $2,000 per share, and the amount taken in a 
few days, and $2,500,000 in addition. As an illustra- 
tion of greed and infatuation of a speculative people, 
hoodwinked by stories only found in sober moments in 
the "Arabian Nights" and tales of like ilk, history fur- 
nishes but few equals. Rich and poor alike parted 
with the most substantial securities, many leaving them 
in the hands of the company to secure a preference of 
shares, without limit as to price. The stock rose rap- 
idly to $2,500, $3,000, $3,500, with many fluctuations, 
and reached the top figure of $5,000 per share, equal to 
$300,000,000 — when the bubble burst. It gradually 



OF THE PA CIFIC O CEAN ig 

leaked out that the chairman of the company, Sir John 
Blunt, a man of low origin but extraordinary financial 
ability, and one of the chief projectors of the scheme, 
together with the favored few having the management 
of its affairs, were selling out. The ruin and desola- 
tion that followed — the disappointment, rage and desire 
for revenge of the deluded ones — turned all England 
into a chaos of financial distress. 

Parliament was convened, and measures immedi- 
ately taken for the punishment of the schemers, who, 
but a little while back, were lauded as the kings of 
finance. Many of the leaders were arrested and im- 
prisoned, and a fine of ^10,000,000 imposed and col- 
lected, to be distributed among the deluded stockhold- 
ers. The Bank of England and the East India Com- 
pany were induced to come to the rescue, they taking 
and sustaining millions, and easing down one of the 
greatest financial crashes in the history of any country. 
Enough of the stock and bonds of the company were 
secured, together with the fines imposed, to enable 
the Government to declare a dividend amonof the 
stockholders of nearly forty per cent, still leaving an 
immense sum to be carried and taken care of by the 
Government. 

One hundred and twenty-five years after the incipi- 
ency of this scheme, I find the following in a financial 
statement of the funds of Great Britain : 

South Sea Debt and Amiuities. — This portion of 
the debt, amounting, on the 5th of January, 1836, to 
10,144,584 pounds sterling, or $50,722,920 of our 
money, is all that now remains of the capital of the 
once famous, or rather infamous, South Sea Company. 
The company has, for a considerable time past, ceased 
to have anything to do with trade, so that the functions 



20 THE ISLAND WORLD 

of the directors are wholly restricted to the transfer of 
the company's stock and the payment of the dividends 
on it, both of which operations are performed at the 
South Sea House, and not at the bank. The dividends 
of the old South Sea annuities are payable on the 5th 
of April and loth of October; the dividends on the rest 
of the company's stock are payable on the 5th of Jan- 
uary and 5th of July. 

In 1727, three-fifths of the public debt of England 
was held by the South Sea Company — or about two 
hundred and seventeen millions, five hundred thousand 
dollars. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 21 



CHAPTER II. 



isi<a:ni>s 



Call us not weeds, we are the flowers of the sea. 

E. L. AVELINE. 



GALAPAGOS GROUP. 

IN making a journey through these garden spots of 
the Pacific, for geographical reasons, it is assumed 
that our voyage commences at the Galapagos Is- 
lands ; and that all longitudes are taken from Green- 
wich, east or west, as the case may be. 

The Galapagos, some fifteen in number, lie on 
both sides of the equator, being about 600 miles west- 
erly from the coast of Ecuador, to which republic they 
belong. Their area is 3,000 square miles, with a popu- 
lation of 4,000. The principal islands in the group are 
Albemarle, James, Chatam, Indefatigable, Hood, 
Charles and Narboro. Their curious geological for- 
mation, and evident volcanic origin, has given rise to 
much speculation on the part of scientists. There are 
to be seen in the group nearly 2,000 craters of extinct 
volcanoes, leaving one with the impression, that a per- 
manent residence here, with the fear of an eruption 
continually before the mind, would not be pleasant. 
There is probably no place in the world, where turtles 



22 THE ISLAND WORLD 

are so abundant, as at these islands. In their laying- 
season they literally swarm along the shores, and are 
hunted and slaughtered by thousands. An establish- 
ment or several of them, might be located here for 
catching and canning turtle, that would no doubt prove 
a great success, and is well worth the thought and en- 
terprise of the commercial world. 



THE MARQUESAS GROUP. 

Leaving the Galapagos, we sail away west by 
south for the Marquesas Archipelago, discovered by 
Mendana in 1595. The islands in this group stand 
high above the level of the sea, some of the mountain 
peaks towering up in the clouds, while their steep and 
rugged sides, sweep down in many places to the waters 
edge. 

They are thirty-five in number, situated between 
latitudes 7 deg. 53 min. and 10 deg. 30 min. south, and 
longitudes 138 deg. 43 min. and 140 deg. 44 min. 
west. The area of the whole group is something like 
1200 square miles, with a population of 20,ocx3 people. 

We found the landings here very difficult, and 
were forced to lay off and on, quite a distance from 
shore. Nuka-HIva, the principal island, Is about 
eighteen miles long from east to west, and ten miles 
wide. After several attempts we finally made a land- 
ing, and were very agreeably surprised at the great 
beauty and fertility of the lands back from the coast. 
Many of the valleys In the interior were one mass of 
tropical foliage, with the huts of the natives peeping- 
here and there, from among the groves of cocoanut, 
bread fruit and oran<rc trees. The natives, althouo-h 
kind and hospitable to our party to the last degree. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 23 

were in appearance anything but attractive. The men 
particularly, being tatooed in all the different fantastic 
styles of that art. At a short distance they had the 
appearance of being clad in chain armor, painted blue. 
The women are much fairer than the men, and only 
tatoo'the face, with a few disfiguring spots on the lips. 
We saw several Polynesian Bibles in the huts of the 
natives, nearly all of whom claim to be Christians. Yet 
from all accounts we were among the decendants of 
veritable man eaters; people who practice all the 
heathenish and superstitious rites of their ancestors; 
and roast and eat their prisoners of war. Many of the 
islands of this group have well watered, beautiful val- 
leys, well suited to the cultivation of coffee, sugar, 
cotton and other tropical products. 

From the Marquesas we sail nearly due south, to 
that vast collection of coral islands known on maps 
and charts as the Low Archipelago or Paumotu 
Group. There are in all about seventy-eight islands 
and like the Marquesas and Society groups, are under 
a French protectorate. All except twenty of them are 
inhabited. The natives are a lawless and savage set, 
their greatest merit being the smallness of their num- 
bers. However, some improvement has been notice- 
able among them lately, especially in their houses, 
clothing, and mode of living ; the trade in pearls, pearl 
shell, and cocoanut oil, the principal products of this 
group, affording them the means for this desirable ad- 
vancement. 

ISLAND OF JUAN FERNANDEZ. 

Still further south and to the east, in latitude 34 
deg. about 400 miles west from Valparaiso, lies Juan 
Fernandez, in size some thirteen miles long by four 



24 THE ISLAND WORLD 

miles wide, discovered in 1563 by the famous pilot 
and navigator, whose name it bears. It will always 
retain a marked prominence in island histories, being 
at one time the home of that celebrated, castaway 
Alexander Selkirk, whose life and adventures have 
been made so intensely interesting to youthful minds, 
and older ones too, for that matter, by Defoe in his 
wonderful book, " Robinson Crusoe." Selkirk was 
sailing master of the war galley Cinque Porte, and 
through a quarrel with Captain Straddling, asked to 
be put ashore on the island, which request was 
granted, and such supplies furnished him, as might be 
most needed in his lonely hermitage. 

THE HOME OF CRUSOE. 

In 1868 the officers of H. M. S. Topaze erected 
a tablet at the mouth of a small valley that trav- 
ersed the land, and which gave the only clear out- 
look to the ocean from the island. At the north- 
ern end of this gap may be seen the tablet, with 
inscription reading: "In memory of Alexander Sel- 
kirk, mariner, a native of Laigo, in the county of 
Fife, Scotland, who was on this island in complete 
solitude for four years and four months. He was 
landed from the Cinqice Porte, galley, 96 tons, 16 
guns, in 1704, a. d., and was taken off by the Duke, 
privateer (Captain Wood Rogers), 12th of February, 
1709. He died lieutenant of the Weymouth, in 1723, 
A. D., aged forty-seven years. This tablet was erected 
near 'Selkirk's Lookout,' by Commodore Powell and 
officers of H. M. S. Topaze, 1868, a. d." 

In justice to the author of Crusoe, I quote still 
further, from the journal of the officers of H. M. S. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 25 

Zealotis: ''We left Torne on December 21st, and 
arrived at the island of Juan Fernandez early in the 
morning of the 24th. It is difficult to imagine a more 
impressive bit of scenery than that which greets the 
eye on coming on deck, and seeing it for the first 
tim.e after anchoring. We lay close to the shore, 
which went up almost perpendicular to a height, in 
some places, of 3,000 feet, towering above us like a 
huge giant. These heights faced us in the shape of 
a semi-circle, and to all appearances we lay in the 
middle of an extinct crater, of which the other half 
of the circle had been thrown into the sea, and now 
formed our anchorage. Every appearance justified 
this idea. No doubt a vast eruption took place many 
years ago, which produced this wonderful formation. 
At night particularly it looks very grand, and from its 
closeness and height, appears to be right over your 
head, standing out clear and distinct against the sky. 
"The island belongs to Chili, and there are now 
resident on it five families, possessing nineteen chil- 
dren, three cows, four sheep, several horses, and goats 
innumerable, which latter abound on the other side 
of the island. The principal personage in this little 
community spoke English remarkably w^ell. He told 
us they were perfectly happy, never were ill, and had 
no desire to leave the island. A state of bliss 
comprised in these three statements difficult to be 
understood ; but though only attributable to the 
lowered state of the intellectual faculties, a state 
which it would be good to meet with more frequently 
amongst cultivated nations. Juan Fernandez was dis- 
covered in 1567, but from that time, I should imagine, 
no advantage was taken of its discovery — except occa- 
sional visits of buccaneers — till the year 1 705, when 



26 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Alexander Selkirk was placed on shore for mutiny 
towards his captain. For more than four years he 
lived alone on this island, when at last he was dis- 
covered and taken off by Captain Rodgers, amongst 
whose crew was a man who had been on board Sel- 
kirk's ship when he was put ashore. From Selkirk's 
narrative Defoe is said to have derived and written 
his wonderful book, 'Robinson Crusoe.' Whether 
he did so or not^ has been the subject of much con- 
troversy. I will not attempt to lay a dictum, for I do 
not think it matters now in the slightest either way. 
But in the memory of Defoe, who, as a writer, has 
had few equals before or since, and for the benefit of 
any one interested in the question, I must say that, 
having been led in the imagination to picture this 
island somewhat according to the book, there is 
nothing in Juan Fernandez to give rise to the belief 
that Defoe could have received from Selkirk anything 
but the idea from which he constructed his famous 
romance. Moreover, it was not published till the 
year 17 19, ten years after the return of Selkirk. 

''That Defoe took the greater part — as he has been 
accused — of his story from Selkirk's journal, it is im- 
possible for anyone who has seen the Island of Juan 
Fernandez to believe. His cave can be seen now, cut 
in a sand-cliff, with the shelves in it used for cooking 
utensils, etc.; so that, unless we concede the almost 
impossible theory that when it was visited by a fearful 
earthquake, in 1 760, the whole island changed its nature 
and appearance, we must acquit Defoe of plagiarism. 
If he did read Selkirk's journal, it had the effect 
simply of making him strive in every way to show 
there was no connection or similitude, the one with 
the other." 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 27 

PITCAIRN ISLAND. 

This little dot on the great ocean's surface, lying in 
latitude 25 deg. 3 min. south, and longitude 130 deg. 
6 min. west, is about 2 ^/^ miles long by i y^ wide, made 
famous as the home of the mutineers of the ship 
Bounty. It has, in addition, been of great service to 
the maritime world, being one of the fresh-water sta- 
tions resorted to by whalers and others sailing in the 
Pacific. 

Pitcairn Island was discovered in 1767 by Philip 
Carteret, navigator, who first sailed under Captain 
Wallis in 1766. 

Although the history of the Bounty mutineers has 
already formed the theme of numerous writers, a very 
brief statement of the facts may not be out of place 
here, and might prove interesting to the general reader. 
Captain Cook, in his first voyage to Tahiti, one of the 
Society group, was much pleased with the bread-fruit 
tree, found in great abundance there, and on his return 
suggested to the British Government its many valuable 
qualities, not only for the nutritive uses, as food, of the 
fruit, but for the value of its timber and bark in a com- 
mercial way. He suggested transplanting the young 
shoots of the tree to the West India Islands, and the 
vessel Bounty was dispatche.d to Tahiti for this pur- 
pose, under command of Lieut. Bligh. It was during 
the voyage from Tahiti, loaded with the plants, that the 
mutiny occurred, Bligh being set adrift in an open boat. 
The mutineers returned to Tahiti, where they remained 
some time, recruiting their forces with natives — also 
persuading some of the gentler sex to accompany them 
— when they sailed away, reaching Pitcairn Island 
in 1789. There they established a colony, and after 



28 THE ISLAND WORLD 

using everything of value belonging to the ship for 
building and other purposes, the Bounty was burned. 
Many years elapsed before they were discovered, and 
then only by accident, through an American ship cap- 
tain who landed there for water. This being commu- 
nicated to the British Government, a vessel was sent, 
not only for their relief, but to punish the ringleaders 
of the mutiny. 

Lieut. Bligh, after many adventures and hair- 
breadth escapes as a castaway, finally succeeded in 
getting back to England.- He was placed in command 
of another vessel, and successfully accomplished the 
object of his first voyage, transplanting the bread-fruit 
tree of the South Seas to the West India Islands in 
1792-3- 

BREAD-FRUIT TREE. 

The bread-fruit tree [Artocarpus incisd) alluded to 
above, is indigenous to nearly all the islands of the 
South Sea, forming, with the cocoanut and banana, 
the principal sources of food for the indolent natives. 
The tree grows from twenty to forty feet high, with a 
diameter of one to two feet. The bark and inner por- 
tions furnish a valuable fibre, while the pith supplies 
the material for much of the paper cloth worn by the 
natives. 

The fruit ripens at different periods of the year. 
It is about the size of a melon, and is found singly and 
in clusters attached to the branches of the tree. There 
are two or three periods in its growth when it can be 
used ; at one time supplying a milky nutritious fluid as 
a drink, and at another a delicious custard, but the 
period when it is most used is just before ripening, at 
which time the fruit is picked and baked in rude ovens, 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 2(j 

the whole ulterior, assuming the spongy -form of 
freshly-baked Ijread, with a pleasant taste — much su- 
perior to the doughy preparations, called bread, so 
common in Europe and America. When baked in 
this way, the bread-fruit can be kept for several 
months. 

The timber of the tree is used to make many ar- 
ticles of furniture, and the trunk often formed into 
canoes, etc. 



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CHAPTER III. 



ISI^AIKDS 



Behold the threaden sails, 
Borne with the invisible and creeping wind, 
Draw the huge bottoms through the furrow' d sea, 
Breasting the lofty surge. 

{Henry V. Act III.) 



AUSTRAL ISLES. 

WEST by north from Pitcairn, and alrriost due 
south from the Paumotus, He the Austral Isles. 
The group, fifteen or twenty in number, are 
between latitudes 22 deg. and 28 deg. south, and 143 
deg. to 153 deg. west longitude. The islands are 
small, and of but little commercial value at present. 
Rumbia, Tubuaia, Vantaia, Rumbaia, Bapai, Nelson 
and Oparo are the largest and best known of the 
group. 

GAMBIER GROUP. 

Another island cluster, the Gambier, due south from 
the Paumotus, are rapidly growing in commercial impor- 
tance. The products, similar to those of the Austral Isles, 
are altogether of the tropical kind ; the soil rich and 

3* .;.; 



34 THE ISLAND WORLD 

productive, well suited for the cultivation of coffee, cot- 
ton, sugar and spices. It is not my purpose to describe 
island groups located like the Austral and Gambier, in 
more than a general way. Lying, as they do, on the 
outside of the present valuable portion of the island 
world, their value is in the future. 

SOCIETY ISLANDS. 

Prof. Dana in speaking of this group says ''that 
they consist of ten islands, ranging in a line 250 miles 
long trending N. 62 deg. W. Commencing from the 
north west they are as follows: Tubuai, Maurua, 
Borabora, Tahaa, Raitea, Hauhine, Tapuaemanu, 
Eimeo, Tetuaroa, Tahiti. To this number Osna- 
burgh or Metia, may properly be added, as it lies in 
the same range, about one hundred miles to the west- 
ward of Tahiti. With the exception of Tubuai and 
Tetuaroa, they are all basaltic or high islands. The 
area of the whole does not exceed twenty-five miles 
square, or 600 miles, and of these about one-half, or 
three hundred square miles, belong to the single 
island of Tahiti. 

" These basaltic islands are characterized by high 
mountains, deep precipitous gorges, and that rich 
livery of green with which the mild airs of a perpetual 
summer clothe the tropical islands of the Pacific. Coral 
reefs in some instances border their shores, forming a 
circle around, dotted with verdant islets. 

"The broken character of the surface is most strik- 
ing on Eimeo, yet all the islands afford scenes of 
grandeur unsurpassed in the Pacific. In the distant 
view, Eimeo seems to be a mass of mountain towers, 
crags and peaks, rising abruptly to great elevations, 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN S5 

and in one lofty summit, resembling a rudely shaped 
cone, there is a hole opening through, a few hundred 
•feet from the top. On Tahiti, still loftier summits, 
with crowns and crests and jagged ridges constitute 
the surface. The eye follows up one precipitious slope 
to plunge at once one or two thousand feet to the 
bottom of another. 

**The islands to the north-westward are described 
as exceeding Tahiti in their bold features, and in the 
indentations of their shores, which form deep bays, 
penetrating far among the mountains ; they are for 
their size, the most remarkable in the Pacific. There 
is great luxuriance of verdure over the Society Islands, 
and good soil. But owing to the mountainous char- 
acter of the lands, and especially the remarkably steep 
declivities, but little of the surface, comparatively, can 
be brought under cultivation. Yet there are many 
fine valleys, besides the level areas along the shores 
which might be tilled to great advantage. The sugar 
cane and many tropical fruits are already grown in 
abundance, and to these the coffee plant and other 
productions of the East Indies might be added.'* 

TAHITI. 

Having cargo for Tahiti, it was our good fortune 
to remain several days, and of course time for a par- 
tial inspection of what has been so much written about. 
The entrance to the main harbor of Tahiti is rather 
difficult to navigate, and requires the assistance of 
some ancient weather-beaten mariner who knows every 
foot of the channel from boyhood. They are to be 
found among the natives, who, for a proper considera- 
tion, will place your vessel at safe anchorage in the 



j6 THE ISLAND WORLD 

inner harbor. The trade of these islands with the out- 
side world is considerable, the exports reaching a value 
of nearly one million of dollars annually, with imports 
of as much more. Coffee, cotton and sugar-cane, as 
well as all other tropical plants, do well in the group, 
giving not only employment to the natives, but many 
who are brought from other islands and China. The 
people are intelligent and kindly disposed, and the 
stranger may revel in all the delights of a tropical cli- 
mate without let or hindrance. Missionary schools are 
to be met with on nearly all of the isles, and the strict 
observance of laws, as customary in our own country, 
is enforced by the Government. Tahiti, although of 
wonderful fertility, and better known to the world, has 
many rivals in extent and rich soil ; notably the islands 
of Raitea and Huahine — both of the Society group — 
where can be found beautiful valleys, with an abun- 
dance of water and a luxuriant vegetation of nearly all 
the tropical fruits, which clothe the valleys, hills and 
mountain sides to their very tops. Much could be 
written of Tahiti that would prove interesting to the 
lovers of curious traditions, and a great deal might be 
said of Captain Cook and his voyage to this island — 
sent by the English Government to take observations 
of the transit of Venus. The shade of the tamarind 
tree planted by Cook may be enjoyed, and relics from 
the observatory built by himself and companions can 
be carried away in quantities to suit. But space will 
not permit many details in a subject so vast as the 
Islands of the Pacific. 

TONOA, OK FRIENDLY ISLANDS. 

To the south and west of the Society group lie 
the Tonga or Friendly islands, nearly one hundred in 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN jj 

number, and, like nearly all isles in this region, are 
formed on die coral reefs. The archipelago is divided 
into several groups — Tongatabu, Namuka, Hapai and 
Katoo being the largest and best known. The islands 
are very low, the highest ground seldom rising above 
an altitude of loo feet. The products are similar to 
those already described ; the natives are peaceable and 
friendly, nearly all of them professing Christianity. 

The number in the group I have placed at one 
hundred ; some authorities state as high as one hun- 
dred and fifty ; with a total landed area of but looo 
square miles. They were discovered by Tasman in 
1643, ^^^ visited by Captain Cook many years after- 
ward, who gave them the name they bear to-day. 

Of the inhabitants, it is said that they "are intel- 
lectually, perhaps, the most advanced of the Polynesian 
race, and exercise an influence over distant neighbors, 
especially in Fiji, quite out of proportion to their 
numbers, which do not exceed twenty or twenty-five 
thousand. Their conquests have extended as far as 
Nine, or Savage Island, 200 miles to the east, and to 
various other islands to the north. In Cook's time, 
Ponlaho, the principal chief, considered Samoa to be 
within his dominions. This pre-eminence may, per- 
haps, be due to an early infusion of Fijian blood. 
Pritchard [Polynesian Reminiscences) observed such 
crosses to be always more vigorous than the pure 
races in these islands, and this influence seems also 
traceable in the Tongan dialect, and appears to have 
been partially transmitted thence to the Samoan. Va- 
rious customs, traditions and names of places point to 
a former relation with Fiji, but Fijian influence in 
Tonga is insignificant, compared with that of Tonga in 
Fiji. Their prior conversion to Christianity gave the 



j8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

people material as well as moral advantages over their 
neighbors, and King George, a very remarkable man, 
and far in advance of his people, has, during a long 
reign, made the most of these. 

''Agriculture, which is well understood, is the 
chief industry. They are bold and skillful sailors and 
fishermen ; other trades, as boat and house building, 
carving, cooking, net and mat making, are usually 
hereditary. Their houses are slightly built, but the 
surrounding ground and roads are laid out with great 
care and taste. 

"There are some ancient stone remains here, as 
in the Caroline Islands, burial places {feitoka) built 
with great blocks, and a remarkable monument consist- 
ing of two large blocks with a transverse one, contain- 
ing a circular basin in the centre. 

"The chief articles of export are cocoanut-oil and 
copra, a little sugar, cotton and coffee, the cultivation 
of which is encouraged by the king, and fresh provis- 
ions for ships, as yams, pigs and poultry. The chiet 
imports are cloth, cotton prints, hardware, mirrors^ 
etc." 

HERVEY OR COOK's ISLANDS- 

A little to the north and east of the Tongas are 
the Hervey or Cook's Islands ; Mangaia, Raratonga, 
Autaluke and Hervey being the largest. They are' 
all of considerable commercial value, not only on ac- 
count of their agricultural products, but for the great 
number of turtles and quantity of beche de mer taken 
in this group. Their products are coffee, cotton, 
sucrar, tobacco, cocoanuts, oil, funcrus, tomano wood 
and bananas. Nearly all the natives of this group 
can read and write, and profess the Protestant religion. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 39 

A great deal of time and money has been spent in 
this region, educating and reclaiming the heathen. 
It is lamentable though that in adopting our more 
civilized manners and habits, that the good and bad 
of our civilization could not have been separated. 
Many of the natives here, as well as among other 
groups of the Pacific, seem to take to the bad nat- 
urally, and in this particular locality it resulted in 
almost decimating the population. 

Raratonga stands high above the sea level, nearly 
3,000 feet, and the rich tropical vegetation covers the 
mountain sides clear to their summits. Streams of 
pure water flow through its valleys of rich alluvial 
soil, and highly cultivated plantations are to be met with 
on every hand. The inhabitants offer a pleasing con- 
trast to some already cited, being a happy, peaceful 
and industrious race, in a comparatively advanced 
state of civilization. 

FIJI ISLANDS. 

Nearly due west from Cook's Islands we come to 
the great group of Viti, popularly known as the Fijis. 
They are 250 in number, with an area of some 7,400 
square miles, and population of about 120,000. It is 
said that " a few islands in the northeast of the group 
were first seen by Tasman in 1643. The southern- 
most of the group. Turtle Island, was discovered by 
Cook in 1773. Bligh visited them in 1789, and Cap- 
tain Wilson, oith^Duff, in 1797. In 1827 D'Urville, 
in the Astrolabe, surveyed them much more accurately, 
but the first thorough survey was that of the United 
States Exploring Expedition in 1840." The group 
was annexed by Great Britain in 1874, and if not 
justly territory of that country, is practically under 



40 THE ISLAND WORLD 

the protectorate of England to-day. Situated in both 
longitudes, that is lying either side of the meridian of 
Greenwich, and between latitudes 15 deg. 42 min. and 
19 deg. 48 min. south, in the track of much of our com- 
mercial trade with Australia and islands further west, the 
Fijis are rapidly growing in commercial importance. 
They offer a curious study of the past and present. 
At one time, and that, too, within the memory of the 
living, the Fijis were inhabited by a race of fierce and 
warlike man-eaters, whose victims were roasted and 
eaten, after undergoing all the hideous rites and 
tortures that their savage natures could suggest. 
Now the abode of peace and plenty, with churches, 
schools and manufactures throughout the land. If I 
mistake not, there are at present 1,400 schools and 
200 churches among these islands. 

The rapid advance made by the natives in civ- 
ilization, in the arts and agriculture has made of these 
once inhospitable shores a pleasant home and resort 
for people of all nations. 

The main islands are known as Viti Lavu, Van- 
nua Lavu, Moala, Kiro, Lotia, Vunie, Kandavau, 
Vatata, Valava Ovalau, Lakeruba, Vanua and Yasawa. 
Mr. Consul March, in his report speaking of the 
capabilities of Fiji, says: "The productions and re- 
sources of Fiji have been described in previous re- 
ports ; it is sufficient, therefore, to state that these 
islands, rich and fertile, yield an almost endless variety 
of vegetable treasures. They abound in edible roots, 
medical plants, scents and perfumes, and timber of 
various descriptions ; whilst sugar, coffee and to- 
bacco grow most luxuriantly, and if cultivated, would, 
J think, prove as remunerative as cotton." 

The group, generally speaking, may be of vol- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 41 

canic origin, niany evidences of igneous creation pre- 
vailing through most of the islands, with traces of 
extinct craters, whose ancient fires were probably 
quenched by the waters of the surrounding seas. 
On some, traces of the sedimentary formations are 
met with, while on others coral is found, a thousand 
feet above the ocean level, forced up from the depths 
of the sea. Taken in all, the physical configuration 
is hilly and mountainous, some of the crests rising 
to a height of four or five thousand feet Blessed 
with an even temperature and an abundant rainfall, 
the valleys and slopes covered with verdure and 
forests in all stages of bloom and growth, a view of 
the group from the sea is extremely pleasing to the 
eye. Small streams flow through the valleys, some 
of them reaching the dignity of navigable rivers, with 
valuable agricultural lands to be found on the low- 
lands along their banks, that a little skill and energy, 
surely arriving with the strangers making their homes 
in the group, will develop into agricultural wealth. 
Then rice, sugar, coffee and cotton will vie with the 
natural products, the cocoanut, bread-fruit, banana, 
lemon and orange. 

NEW HEBRIDES GROUP. 

Lying farther west and a little to the south of the 
Fijis, are the New Hebrides Islands, twelve in number, 
the largest and best known being named Aneteum, 
Tana, Vate, Api, Aurora, Whitsun and Espiritu Santo. 
The last named, the largest of the group, is about 65 
miles long by 35 wide. Inhabiting most of the islands 
may be found a people the most treacherous and quar- 
relsome in the whole Pacific. Lieut. Meade, R. N., 



42 THE ISLAND WORLD 

who visited there in 1865, in describing Tana, and 
which may be accepted as about their present condi- 
tion, says : ''Tana is about 25 miles long by 12 broad, 
the population being between fifteen and twenty thou- 
sand. But since the introduction of European diseases 
and weapons, there has been a steady decrease. In 
1 86 1 a third of the people died of the measles. The 
state of morals is extremely low ; the natives assert 
that the present excessive licentiousness was introduced 
by the whites, who formerly resided on the island. 
The chiefs endeavor to get drunk every night on kava. 
The women do all the work ; the men all the fighting, 
which is their constant employment. Cannibalism is 
the custom all over the island." In 1842 the bark 
Rose, from Nantucket, engaged in whaling in these 
latitudes, took as passengers twelve native mission- 
aries, who had been educated and raised in Christianity 
on some of the more civilized groups. These mission- 
aries were sent to Tana as an experiment, and in the 
hope of retrieving a fallen race. Arriving off the island, 
a whale-boat was lowered and manned with a well- 
armed crew, in addition to the twelve Christian work- 
ers. The crew were cautioned as to the treachery and 
brutality of the natives, and on no account to make a 
landing longer than just necessary to place the mission- 
aries ashore. On arriving at the beach, die natives 
swarmed to the boat and assisted the landino- of the 

o 

religious workers with every show of kindness and 
affection. Acting under strict orders, the crew of the 
whale-boat immediately put back for the ship, and were 
not three hundred yards from the beach when the na- 
tives fell upon the missionaries, killing them all in the 
most barbarous manner, and in full view of the occu- 
pants of the boat. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 43 

LOYALTY ISLANDS. 

South and westerly from the New Hebrides we 
come to the Loyalty Islands, said to have been dis- 
covered by Captain Cook in 1774. The group is 
"about 60 miles east of New Caledonia, consisting of 
Uvea or Uea (the northernmost), Lifu, Toka, and sev- 
eral small islands, and Mare or Neugone. They are 
coral islands, of comparatively recent elevation, and in 
no place rise more than 250 feet above the sea. Lifu, 
the largest, is about 50 miles in length by 25 in breadth. 
Enough of its rocky surface is covered with a thin 
coating of soil to enable the natives to grow yams, 
taro, bananas, etc., for their support ; cotton thrives 
well, and has even been exported in small quantities, 
but there is no space available fpr its cultivation on 
any considerable scale. Fresh water, rising and falling 
with the tide, is found in certain large caverns, and, in 
fact, by sinking to the sea-level, a supply may be ob- 
tained in any part of the island. The population, about 
seven thousand, is on the decrease. The island called 
Neugone by the natives, and Mare by the inhabitants 
of the Isle of Pines, is about eighty miles in circumfer- 
ence, and contains about six thousand souls. Uvea, 
the most recent part of the group, consists of a circle 
of about twenty islets, inclosing a lagoon twenty miles 
in width ; the largest is about thirty miles in length. 
and in some places three miles wide, and the next lar- 
gest is about twelve miles in length. The inhabitants, 
numbering about twenty-five hundred, export consid- 
erable quantities of cocoanut-oil. The Loyalty Island- 
ers are classed as Melanesian ; the several islands have 
each its separate language, and in Uvea the one tribe 
uses a Samoan, and the other a New Hebridean form 



44 THE ISLAND WORLD 

of speech. Captain Cook passed to the east of New 
Caledonia without observing the Loyalty group, but it 
was discovered soon afterwards, and Dumont D'Ur- 
ville laid down the several islands in his chart. For 
many years after their discovery the natives had a bad 
repute as dangerous cannibals. Christianity was in- 
troduced into Mare by native teachers from Rarotonga 
and Samoa ; missionaries were settled by the London 
Missionary Society at Mare in 1854, at Lifu in 1859, 
and at Uvea in 1865. Roman Catholic missionaries 
also arrived from New Caledonia, and in 1864 the 
French, considering the islands a dependency of that 
colony, formally instituted a commandant." 

(Encyclo. Brit., vol. 15; Gill: Gems from the Coral Islands, 1871; 
Macfarlane : Story of the Lifu Mission, 1873.) 



NEW CALEDONIA. 

New Caledonia with an area of 6,000 square miles 
and a population of nearly 60,000, was discovered in 
1774 by Captain Cook. One of the most beautiful 
and valuable islands in the South Pacific, has been 
rendered almost valueless, by its appropriation in 1853 
by the French, and since used by that government as 
a convict settlement. It differs materially from the 
coral formations underlying many of the Pacific isles, 
springing evidently from the older geological periods. 
It is one confused mass of rocks, hills and mountains, 
corrugated with beautiful valleys and running streams. 
The hills and mountains are covered with forests of 
fine timber, while an abundant natural growth of 
nearly all of the tropical fruits, afford easy sustenance 
to the not over industrious natives. Noumea the 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 4^ 

capital is in the southern portion, ' and has a fine 
harbor, that should be used for anything, but the wants 
of the scapegraces of France. Copper, nickle and 
cobalt are found in paying quantities, and very lately 
some important discoveries of gold have been made. 



46 THE ISLAND WORLD 



CHAPTER IV. 



ISI^AI^DS 



The turf looks green where the breakers rolled ; 
O'er the whirlpool ripens the rind of gold ; 
The sea-snatched isle is the home of men, 
And mountains exult where the wave hath been. 

Lydia H. Sigourney. 

MARSHALL ISLANDS. 

THE Marshall Archipelago, consists of two nearly 
parallel chains of Atolls, from loo to 300 miles 
apart, the west known as Ralik, the east as Radek 
chains. They are between 4 deg. 30 min. and 1 2 deg. 
N., and between 165 deg. 15 min. and 172 deg. 15 
min. E., and run N. N. W. and S. S. E. They were 
discovered by Alonzo de Saavedra, in 1529, who 
observing the fine tatooing of the natives, (the first 
allusion to that practice in the Pacific,) called them 
Los Pintados. 

Among modern voyagers, Wallis first visited them 
in 1767. Captains Marshall and Gilbert reached them 
in 1788, and Kotzebue in 1816, explored them more 
thoroughly. The east group contains fifteen or six- 
teen atolls, which range from two to fifty miles in cir- 
cumference. 

There is a curious tradition on the Liban island, of 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 4-] 

the Darwinian fact, that the atoll, once formed the 
barrier reef of an island now sunk beneath the lagoon. 

GILBERT ISLANDS. 

The Gilbert Archipelago, discovered by Com. 
Byron in 1765, is geographically, a south continuation 
of the Marshalls, the channel separating them being 
about 150 miles wide. 

Several of the islands have good anchorages 
inside of the lagoons, with entrances on the lee side. 
On some the lee or west reef is wanting, owing to the 
abrading force of the west storms. During these, 
large trees, are washed ashore, their roots containing 
pieces of fine basalt, of which implements are made. 
There is a larger proportion of land to submerged 
reef and lagoon than in the Marshalls ; the land some- 
times rising twenty feet above the sea, whereas in the 
Marshalls the average level of the reef rocks above the 
surface is less than one foot ; but, though the supply 
of fresh water is great, in fact enough for the luxury of 
a bath, the soil, especially in the south, is much less 
productive ; yet the population is very dense. The 
usually scattered houses are replaced by compact rows 
of roofs, shaded by the cocoa palm, and, each with its 
boat shed below, line the shore. 

Their number may be set down at sixteen, lying on 
both sides of the equator between 3 deg. 20 min. N., 
and 2 deg. 40 min. S. latitude, and 172 deg. 30 min., 
and 177 deg. 15 min. E. longitudes, with a landed 
area of 800 square miles and a population of 25,000. 

These atolls may contain a greater number of 
people than mentioned, as the population seems very 
dense. This is accounted for by the small width of 



4^ THE ISLAND WORLD 

the atolls, ranging from a few hundred yards wide 
only, in some places, to several miles in others, and 
the habit of the natives of flocking or swarming from 
one island to another, or to particular localities on one 
island. This occurs sometimes twice in a year, and 
arises from the fact that nature, in her products, is not 
always equally prolific; and the natives migrate from 
point to point, for the means of sustenance. 

AS MARINERS. 

The Marshall islanders are the best and most 
skillful navigators in the Pacific. Their voyages, 
sometimes of many months' duration, in great canoes, 
sailing with outriggers to windward, well provisioned 
and depending on the skies for fresh water, help to 
show how the Pacific was colonized. They have a 
sort of chart, inede, of small sticks tied together, 
representing the position of islands and the direction 
of the winds and currents. They have also wonderful 
weapons, the blades of which are edged with sharks' 
teeth, and a defensive armor of braided sennit, also 
peculiar to the islands. In hollowing out their canoes 
they use a large adze, made from the Tradacue gigas, 
formerly used in the Carolines, probably by the older 
builder race. 

LANGUAGES OF MICRONESIA. 

The languages of Micronesia, though gramat- 
ically alike, differ widely in their vocabularies. The 
religious myths are identifiable with the Polynesian ; 
but a belief in the gods proper is overshadowed 
by a general deification of ancestors, who are sup- 
posed from time to time to occupy certain blocks of 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 49 

coral, set up near the family dwelling, and surrounded 
by circles of smaller ones. These stones are an- 
nointed with oil and worshiped with prayer and 
offerings, and are also used for purposes of divining, 
in which, and in various omens, there is a general 
belief. In the Marshall group, in place of these 
stones, certain palm-trees are similarly enclosed. 
The spirits, also, are believed to inhabit the forms of 
certain birds or fishes, which are tabii, as food to the 
family ; but they will help to catch these for others. 
All this closely recalls the Kauwari, or the ancestral 
images of New Guinea. 

FLORA AND FAUNA. 

The tiora of the Gilbert and Marshall groups is 
of the usual oceanic character, with close Indo-Malay 
affinities. It is much poorer than that of the Caro- 
lines, with their Mollucca and Philippine elements, and 
this again is surpassed by that of the Ladrones. In 
the Gilberts, the scattered woods of the cocoanut and 
pandanus have little undergrowth, while the South 
Marshalls being within the belt of constant precipita- 
tion, have a dense growth of low trees and shrubs, 
with here and there a tropical luxuriance unusual in 
atolls. 

The pandanus grows wild and profusely, and is 
of exceptional importance, being the chief staple 
food, so that the cocoanut, which however flourishes 
chiefly in the Gilberts, is used mainly to produce oil 
for exportation. The bread-fruit grows chiefly in the 
South Marshalls. The t^ro ancju cordifoliutn and 
others is cultivated laboriously, deep trenches being 
cut in the solid rock for its cultivation. Various veg- 



so THE ISLAND WORLD 

etables grow on soil imported for the purpose. Ma- 
rine plants are rare. 

The fauna, like the flora, becomes poorer east- 
ward, birds being more numerous on the high islands 
than on the atolls, where the few are chiefly aquatic. 
On Bonabe, or Ponape, out of twenty-nine species 
eleven are sea-birds, and of the remaining eighteen, 
eleven are peculiar to the islands. From the Pelew 
Islands fifty-six species are recorded (twelve peculiar), 
and from the neighboring Makenzie group twenty (six 
peculiar). Yet curiously no species is recorded to 
those two groups, and peculiar to them. The com- 
mon fowl is found everywhere, wild or tame, and in 
some places is kept for its feathers only. The rat and 
paunopes are the only indigenous land mammals. The 
Indian crocodile is found as far west as the Pelews. 
There are five or six species of lizards, including a 
gecka and abliphereos. Insects are numerous, but of 
few kinds. Scorpions and centipedes are common, 
but are said to be harmless. 

The houses of the Gilberts and Marshalls (much 
less elaborate than those in the Carolines) consist 
merely of a thatched roof, resting on posts, or blocks 
of coral, about th^ee feet high, with floors at that 
level, which are reached from an opening in the 
center. On these the principal people sleep, also 
serving as a store-house, inaccessible to rats, which 
infest all the islands. 

(Findlay's N. Pacific ; Hale's Eth. and Phi. of Wilke's U. S. Ex. 
Exped.; Menicke's Die Inseln des Stellen Oceans ; Proc. Zool. Soc, 
1872, 1877, Ency. Brit., vol. 16.) 

MICRONESIA. 

The Islands of Micronesia lie along the Equator 
and a little west of the meridian on which the world's 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 51 

day begins. The Micronesian Christians have finished 
the Sabbath worship, and fallen asleep under the shel- 
ter of their thatched cottages beneath the cocoanut 
trees, before Christians in America have begun the 
services of the day. 

Micronesia is a subdivision of Polynesia, the gen- 
eric name for the myriad islands scattered over the 
broad Pacific Ocean. It is composed of four groups — 
the Gilbert or Kingsmill Islands, which lie on both 
sides of the Equator and a little beyond the 1 80th me- 
ridian ; the Marshall or Mulgrave Islands, subdivided 
into the Radac or Ralack Chains ; and the Caroline 
and Ladrone Islands. The three former groups only 
are missionary ground, as the Ladrone Islands are a 
Spanish penal colony, and the native race is extinct. 

The Islands of Micronesia are in the great coral 
belt ; the Gilbert and Marshall groups being exclu- 
sively of coral formation, and lie in the Caroline archi- 
pelago, which stretches over the sea a distance of two 
thousand miles from east to west. Many of the atolls 
or coral islands enclose lagoons from ten to fifteen 
miles broad, and from twenty to thirty miles long. 

The climate of Micronesia is a never-ending sum- 
mer, never as hot as the hottest summer days of Amer- 
ica, and never cold enough to cause chilliness. The 
greatest range of the thermometer experienced during 
a residence of several years on Ponape, one of the 
Caroline group, was thirteen degrees — from 74 deg. 
to 87 deg. in the shade. On some of the islands the 
rainfall is excessive ; on others, but moderate. 

The Islands of Polynesia are inhabited by two 
races of people — brown and black. The brown are 
found on the Sandwich Islands, the Marquesas, the 
Society and the Samoan groups, the Hervey and New 



S2 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Zealand. To this race belong the inhabitants of Mic- 
ronesia. The Melanesians — found on the Fiji Islands, 
New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, the Loyalty and 
Solomon groups. New Britain and New Guinea — are 
akin to the African, having the woolly hair and physi- 
ognomy of the negro races. They are lower down in 
the scale of civilization than their brown neighbors, 
being, as a rule, cannibals — fierce, warlike, treacherous 
and intractable. It was among these people that John 
Williams, Bishop Pattison, the Gordons and other mis- 
sionaries lost their lives. But, degraded as they are, 
the entire history of Christian missions can show no 
greater transformation than has taken place in the Fiji 
Islands, as the result of English Wesleyan missions. 

The islands inhabited by the black Polynesians 
enter like a wedge among those inhabited by the brown 
race, the apex being the Fiji Islands. The accepted 
theory, until recently, was that the brown Polynesians 
belong to the Malay race. Later investigations by 
Judge Fornander, of the Hawaiian Islands, and certain 
German scholars, render it probable that they may be 
a branch of the Caucasian race. It is thought that by 
means of their languages, traditions and mythologies, 
the Polynesians can be traced back from their present 
abode, step by step, through the island groups of the 
Pacific and Indian Oceans, to the Indian Peninsula, and 
onward to the centre table-lands of Asia, whence the 
Caucasian races, in the beginning of history, emigrated 
westward and southward. In those groups in which 
the different islands arc near enou^rh to allow of com- 
munication, even though comparatively infrequent, 
there is usually a common language ; where widely 
separated, different languages have been developed. 
Most of the various dialects abound in vowel sounds. 



OF THE PACIFIC. OCEAN S3 

two consonants rarel)^ coming together in the middle 
of a word, and all words ending in vowels. 

RELIGION. 

Religions beliefs and observances varied with 
different groups, yet had certain characteristics in 
common. The people were not idolaters ; they be- 
lieved in the existence of spiritual beings, whose power 
they feared, and whose anger they sought in many 
ways to avert. But we never found any conception of 
a supreme Deity, or a belief in one spirit surpassing all 
others in power. They believed that the spirit of man 
survived his death, and lived on in one of two places 
or states, one more desirable than the other, but with 
no difference based on clearly defined desert or moral 
character. On some of the islands there was a regu- 
lar priesthood, with rites of worship ; on others, little 
more than certain superstitious observances. They 
prayed to spirits, and offered gifts and oblations. 
Their traditions and mythologies were usually only a 
confused jumble, and their religious beliefs seemed to 
have little influence on their character. 

(Rev. Robert W. Logan, Congregational Missionary to Micronesia.) 
PHCENIX, ELLIS, UNION AND KERMADEC GROUPS. 

To the east of the Marshalls, between latitudes 
2 deg. and 5 deg. S., and longitudes 170 deg. and 176 
deg. W., are the Phoenix, Swallow, Gardner, Ender- 
berg, Sidney, Hull, Birui, Arthur, Wilkes, and some 
smaller islets and atolls, sometimes known as the 
Phoenix Group. 

Like many, they are now of no special import- 



5^ THE ISLAND WORLD 

ance, in size or products. They but await the occupa- 
tion and development of the more civiHzed races, to 
render them of great value. 

These islands, atolls, and islets although some- 
thing over a hundred in number, are so similar in 
nearly every respect to the Marshall and Gilbert 
groups, that a description would be but a repetition of 
nearly all that has been written of the latter islands. 

Another small group that might be placed under 
this head, if we except climatic and geographic differ- 
ences are the Kermadec islands. Lying to the north 
and east of New Zealand, between latitudes 30 deg. 
and 33 deg. S., and about 177 deg. and 179 degrees 
W. longitude, might prove of great value, by occupa- 
tion. Sunday, Macauley and Curtis islands are the 
principal in this little cluster. 

NAVIGATOR (sAMOa) ISLANDS. 

Samoa, the native name of the Navigator group, 
comprises ten islands that are inhabited, or of any 
note, with some smaller islets, of no present interest. 

Savaii, Opolu, Tutuila, Mauono, Apolima, Mauna, 
Olosenga and Of'u are the principal, for a better idea 
and description of which I have had to refer to Mr. Reed 
of the Australian Customs, and the United States 
Exploring Expedition, under Commodore Wilkes, who 
surveyed them in 1839. 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

They are located between latitudes 12 deg. 53 
min. and 15 deg. 57 min. south, and between longi- 
tudes 168 deg. 6 min. and 178 deg. 21 min. west, 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN JS 

with an area I have set down at 1,650 square miles 
(although some authorities do not allow over 1,100 
to 1,200 square miles), with a total population of 
35,000. The modern name of the group was given 
to them by the French navigator, Bougainville, who 
visited them in 1768. They were visited, also, in 
after years by the ill-fated la Perouse, in 1787, who had 
a battle with the natives, losing a good many men in 
the conflict. 

The islands are evidently of volcanic origin, but 
no traces of active eruptions are found at present. 
In 1867 a curious submarine convulsion took place in 
the strait between the islands of Mauna and Olosenga. 
The eruption lasted for about two weeks, ejecting 
mud, sand and water in large volumes to a great 
height. After the convulsion, which in no way dis- 
turbed the adjoining islands, the sea flowed peacefully 
over the volcanoes' watery tomb. Soundings taken 
at the time showed no apparent variation from the 
usual depth of water in the strait. 

The people are among the straight-haired races 
of the South Sea. With a fertile soil, blessed with 
an abundant rainfall, and schools and churches in 
every village, the group may safely be classed among 
the garden-spots of the Pacific. 

Savaii is the most western island of the Samoan 
group, and is also the largest, being forty miles in 
length and twenty in breadth. It is not, however, as 
populous or as important as some of the others. It 
differs from any of the others in appearance, for its 
shore is low, and the ascent thence to the center is 
gradual, except where the cones of a few extinct 
craters are seen. In the middle of the island a peak 
rises, which is almost continually enveloped in the 



5(5 THE ISLAND WORLD 

clouds, and is the highest land in the group. On 
account of these clouds angles could not be taken 
for determining its height accurately, but it certainly 
exceeds 4,000 feet. 

Another marked difference between Savaii and 
the other larger islands is the want of any permanent 
streams, a circumstance which may be explained, not- 
withstanding the frequency of rains, by the porous 
nature of the rock (vesicular lava), of which it is 
chiefly composed. Water, however, gushes out near 
the shore in copious springs, and when heavy and 
continued rains have occurred, streams are formed in 
the ravines, but these soon disappear after the rains 
have ceased. 

The coral reef attached to the island is inter- 
rupted to the south and west, where the surf beats 
full upon the rocky shore. There are in consequence 
but few places where boats can land, and only one 
harbor for ships, that of Mataatua ; even this is 
unsafe from November to February, when the north- 
westerly gales prevail. The soil is fertile, and was 
composed in every part of the island that was visited, 
of decomposed volcanic rock and vegetable mold. 
Upolu is ten miles to the eastward of Savaii, and is 
next in size. It is about forty miles long and thirteen 
broad. It has a main ridge extending east and west, 
broken here and there into sharp peaks and hum- 
mocks. From this main ridge a number of smaller 
ridges and broad gradual slopes run down to a low 
shore encircled by a coral reef, interrupted here and 
there by channels which form the entrances to safe and 
convenient anchorages for small vessels. At Apia 
the reef extends across a good-sized bay, and forms 
a safe and commodious harbor for large ships, with 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN f7 

an entrance through a deep and clear channel founed 
by a break in the reef. 

Between Savaii and Opulu are two small islands; 
at the southeast end of Tutuila there is the small 
island of Aunu'u, and sixty miles to the east of this 
Maun'a. Of these islands the Rev. Mr. Powell, of 
the London Missionary Society, says : 

"The first island that come, in sight of voyagers 
arriving from the eastward is Ta'u, the largest of the 
three islands that constitute the group, which the 
natives call Manu'a. It is about six miles long, four 
and a half broad, and sixteen in circumference, and 
contains one hundred square miles. [This is an 
evident mathematical mistake of Mr. Powell, as 
under his description, taking length, breadth or cir- 
cumference, the island could not contain more than 
twenty-five to twenty-seven square miles.] About 
six miles west of Ta'u is the island of Olosenga. 
This Is a very rocky island, three miles long, 500 
yards wide, and about 1,500 feet high." 

Savaii and Opolu contain the largest extent of 
flat land ; fully two-thirds of their area (about 500,000 
acres) are fit for cultivation. The whole group is of 
volcanic origin ; craters of extinct volcanoes are seen 
at various points. Some of the small islands of the 
group are composed of a single large crater rising 
abruptly from the sea. The soil on all the islands is 
exceedingly rich, and is everywhere covered with dense 
vegetation from the water's edge up to the tops of the 
mountains. The high mountain ridges extending 
through the middle of the larger islands attract the 
passing clouds, which furnish a copious and never-failing 
supply of moisture, and feed the numerous streams of 
beautiful, clear water that abound in every direction. 



S8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

CLIMATE. 

The climate is mild and agreeable ; the tempera- 
ture generally ranges between 70 deg. and 80 deg., 
but the heat is greatly subdued by the breezes that are 
constantly blowing. Mr. Williams, the British Consul, 
kept a meteorological register for the Board of Trade 
from i860 to 1865, from which I made an abstract of 
the mean recorded temperature in every month in the 
year 1864. The southeast trade-winds blow steadily 
from April to October, being strongest in June and 
July. From November to March westerly winds fre- 
quently blow, but not for any length of time together. 
A strong gale may generally be looked for some time 
in January, but frequently an entire year will pass 
without a severe storm. February, as a rule, is fine, 
with variable winds. March is usually the worst and 
most boisterous month of the year, the winds being 
still variable, and gales occurring from north to north- 
west. Copious rains fall from the beginning of De- 
cember to March. June and July are the coolest, and 
September and October the hottest months ; although 
it will be seen, from the abstract above referred to, 
that there is very little variation of the temperature 
throughout the year. Hence the growth of vegeta- 
tion goes on without check all the year around. Cot- 
ton and Indian corn will yield three crops a year. I 
saw some of the latter gathered in January, which had 
been sown at the beginning of October. Thus it was 
planted and the crop gathered within four months. 
The taro also comes to maturity in four months, and 
is planted continuously all the year round. When the 
natives take up the taro, they cut off the top, make a 
hole in the ground with a stick, into which the top is 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 59 

thrust, without the ground being dug over or In any- 
way prepared. A short time after It Is planted, they 
clean the ground and mulch between the plants with 
grass and leaves to keep down the seeds. Bananas 
yield ripe fruit in nine months after planting, some of 
the introduced varieties coming to maturity in six 
months. This fruit attains a great size, especially the 
indigenous varieties, some of which I measured and 
found to be eight Inches long and nine Inches in cir- 
cumference. 

PRODUCTS. 

The following are the principal productions of the 
group : Cocoanuts, cotton, native chestnuts, candle- 
nuts, bananas, plantains, oranges, lemons, limes, cit- 
rons, pineapples, mangoes, guavas, Malay apples, 
rose apples, custard apples, pawpaws, tamarinds, 
bread-fruit, sweet casava, indigo, coffee, Indian corn, 
tobacco, chile and medicinal plants, several trees 
with very fragrant blossoms that might be used In the 
preparation of scents, some that exude aromatic gum, 
and others that furnish very handsome and durable 
wood, suitable for cabinet ware and furniture. 



INHABITANTS. 

The Samoan natives are a fine, tall, handsome 
race, of a light brown color. They are docile, truth- 
ful and hospitable, and are very lively and vivacious. 
In conversation among themselves, and in their Inter- 
course with foreigners, they are exceedingly courteous 
and polite. They have different styles of salutation, 
corresponding with the social rank of the persons ad- 
dressed ; for Instance, in addressing the chiefs or dis- 



6o THE ISLAND WORLD 

tinguished strangers, they use the expression Lau-Afio, 
or "Your Majesty;" in speaking to chiefs of lower 
rank, they address them, Lau-Stcstc, as we would use 
the words ''Your lordship ; " to chiefs of lower degree 
than those who are thus addressed, the term Ala-Ala 
is used, and to the common people the salutation is 
Omai, Sau, simply meaning ''You have arrived," or 
"You are here." 

The men only, tattoo, and not on their faces, as 
the New Zealanders do, but on their bodies from the 
waist to the knee, entirely black for the most part, 
except where relieved here and there by graceful 
stripes and patterns. At a short distance this tattoo- 
ing gives them the appearance of having on black knee 
breeches. The clothing of both sexes is a piece of 
calico or native cloth wound around the waist and 
reaching to the knees. Some of the women wear a 
couple of colored cotton handkerchiefs, in the shape of 
a narrow poncho, over their breasts and shoulders, 
and hanging loosely down to below the waist. When 
in the bush, or working on their taro plantations, or 
w^hen fishing, they wear a kilt of the long, handsome 
leaves of the Ti [Dracceita ter77zinalis) . They have a 
kind of fine mat plaited from thin strips of the leaves 
of a plant called Lait-ic. These mats are only used on 
important occasions, and they esteem them more highly 
than any European commodity. Some of these mats 
are quite celebrated, having names that are known all 
over the group ; the older they are the more they are 
valued. The oldest one known is called Moe efiii-fui, 
meaning "the mat that slept among the creepers." 
This name was given to it from the circumstance of its 
having been hidden away among the creeping kind of 
convolvolus that grows along the shores ; it is known 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 6i 

to be over two hundred years old, as the names of its 
different owners during that time can be traced down. 
The best mats are made at Manu'a. They are the 
most coveted property a native can possess, no labor 
or enterprise being considered too great to secure 
them. Both men and women spend a great deal of 
of time in dressing their hair, and frequently apply 
lime to it, which is laid on in a liquid state about the 
consistency of cream, and has the effect of turning the 
hair to a reddish hue. Both men and women fre- 
quently wear flowers in their hair — generally a single 
blossom of the beautiful scarlet Hybiscus, which is al- 
ways found growing near their houses. Nature has 
supplied them so bountifully with food, in the shape of 
the cocoanut, bread-fruit, banana, native chestnuts, and 
other wild fruits, and the taro yields so abundant a 
crop with so little cultivation, that they have no neces- 
sity to exert themselves much, and they are, therefore, 
little inclined to industry, and probably will never be 
induced to undertake steady labor of any kind. Their 
houses are neat, substantial structures, generally cir- 
cular in shape, with high, pitched, conical roofs, sup- 
ported in the centre by two or three stout posts, and 
open all around, but fitted with narrow mats made of 
cocoanut leaves, which are strung together like Vene- 
tian blinds, and can be let down in stormy weather. 

The Samoans are very expert in the management 
of their canoes, of which they have five different kinds 
— the Alia, or large double canoe, some of which are 
capable of carrying two hundred men ; the Taii-maiL- 
lua, from thirty to fifty feet long — these were first made 
about thirty years ago, and are fashioned after the 
model of our whale-boats ; the Va-lao, or fishing ca- 
noes, with out-riggers — a beautiful craft, and very fast ; 



62 THE ISLAND WORLD 

then there is the Loatau, out-rlgger, dug-out canoe, 
capable of carrying five or six people ; and, lastly, the 
PaopaOy a small dug-out canoe for one person. 

RELIGION. 

The natives are all professed Christians. Christi- 
anity was first introduced into Samoa in August, 1830, 
by the Rev. J. Williams, who landed a number ot na- 
tive teachers from Tahiti. A few years afterwards 
(about 1835) five English missionaries, belonging to 
the London Missionary Society, landed on the islands, 
and from that time to the present several Congrega- 
tional missionaries have been constantly resident on 
the group. In addition to these, there is a Roman 
Catholic Bishop resident at Apia, and a number of 
Catholic priests in various parts of the islands. The 
natives, for many years past, have annually contributed 
considerable sums towards the support of the mission 
establishments. 

These islands, in their varied productiveness and 
their great capabilities for immense agricultural re- 
turns, if put under a proper system of cultivation, with 
the habits and manners of the inhabitants, are a fair 
type of the most of the groups of the Pacific. At the 
present day they are living proofs of the incalculable 
benefits that may arise from the gradual American 
protectorate, with its modern methods and appliances, 
spreading over these regions. 

METEOROLOGICAL. 

Extract from the Meteorological Register kept at 
the British Consulate at Apia, in the Navigator 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 



63 



Islands, which may be accepted as about the tempera- 
ture of all of the tropical islands of the Pacific. 



MONTH. 



LOWEST AND HIGHEST TEM- 
PERATURE DURING THE 
MONTH. 



6 A. M. 



Lowest [Highest 



4 P. M. 



Lowest Hiofhest 



HIGHEST RE- 
CORDED TEM- 
PERATURE 
DURING THE 
MONTH. 



January 

February . . 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 
October.... 
November 
December. 



70 

71 
70 
70 
65 
65 
61 

59 
67 
61 
73 
71 



75 
79 
81 
76 
82 
74 
74 
77 
78 

79 

76 

78 



76 
77 
74 
74 
78 
78 
79 
78 
81 
82 

78 
82 



82 
84 

85 
88 

85 
83 
82 

84 
83 
84 
79 



85 — at 8 A. M. 

85 
86 



10 



85 

83 
82 

84 
86 
86 

84 
86 



4 p. M. 

4 " 

4 '' 

4 '' 

4 " 

8 A. M. 



4 p. M. 



BANKS ISLANDS. 

North of the New Hebrides we come to the 
Banks group, named after Sir Joseph Banks, scientist 
and naturalist, who accompanied Captain Cook in his 
voyage to the Society Islands in 1768. 

" Vanua Lava, the largest of the group, is fifteen 
miles in length north and south, and is a remarkable 
looking island, with several high, rounded mountains, 
the highest, to the northwest, being some 2,800 feet 
above the sea. In the Suutamiti Mountain are several 
hot springs, always steaming, whilst a stream impreg- 
nated with sulphur runs down to die sea on the north- 
west coast, and a similar one falls into Port Patterson 



64 THE ISLAND WORLD 

on the Eastern side. There are two waterfalls on the 
western side — one single and the other double. The 
population of Vanua Lava is about 1,500; the natives 
were quiet and friendly." 

This island, with Santa Maria, Mota, Valua, Arau 
and Ureparapara, with some smaller islets dotting the 
sea, make up the group. The inhabitants are quite 
friendly with strangers, although very quarrelsome 
among themselves. This may be attributed to their 
"desire to trade for the curiosities (to them) in the pos- 
session of the whites. Anything, from a small piece 
of hoop-iron to a chopping-axe, is eagerly bartered for. 

The weapons of the natives are bows and poi- 
soned arrows, war-clubs and spears, which they handle 
with the greatest de^cterity. The products are fruit, 
sugar-cane, taro, potatoes and yams. 

SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS. 

Still pursuing our northerly course, we arrive at 
Santa Cruz Islands, composed of seven larger ones. 
Volcano, Vuerta, Santa Cruz, Edgecombe, Ouvry and 
Lord Howe, with several smaller ones ; Vanikoro is 
made interesting in a historical way, from having been 
the scene of the wreck of the two vessels under com- 
mand of Admiral de la Perouse, the great French 
voyager. This occurred in 1788, and remained an 
uncertainty for many years, causing much uneasiness 
in his native land, and, in fact, all over the civilized 
world. In 1826 the chains, anchors, cannon and some 
of the heavier imperishable portions of his vessels 
were discovered at this island and taken to France, in 
memory of Perouse. 

Of Santa Cruz, Captain Tilly says : *' It is about 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN • 63 

fifteen or sixteen miles In length, with fringe reefs along 
the shore, but apparently no off-lying dangers. The 
north point near the center of the island was found 
to be in latitude 10 deg. 40 min. south, and longitude 
166 deg. 3 min. The high land extends close out on 
its northeast side, but towards the northwest the hills 
slope at some distance from the extremes, leaving 
a considerable extent of low land near the coast. The 
island is well wooded and watered, the streams in some 
places running through the villages Into the sea. 

''The natives are a fine athletic race, and came off 
readily to the ship, bringing pigs, bread-fruit and yams. 
Mats, in the manufacture of which great skill is dis- 
played, are also offered for sale. The appearance of 
the canoes, houses, etc., evinces great ingenuity. 
Canoes with outriggers, and mostly lime-washed, 
have a neat appearance ; they have also large sea- 
going double canoes. The villages are large, and 
houses surrounded by stone fences. On the north 
side, the villages are close to the sea, with from 300 
to 400 inhabitants each. The natives are apparently 
merry and good-natured, but are not to be trusted, 
for without any known reason they attacked the boat 
of the Bishop, on leaving the village of the northwest 
extremity of the island, and nearly succeeded In cut- 
ting it off Three of the crew were wounded with 
arrows, and of these two died from the effects of their 
wounds. Their bows are formidable looking weapons, 
being seven feet in length, with arrows in proportion." 

SOLOMON ISLANDS. 

. North by west from Santa Cruz is the Solomon 
Archipelago, so named by Mendana, the discoverer. 



66 THE ISLAND WORLD 

in 1568, supposing the islands to contain all the wealth 
and riches like unto that of the ancient king. They 
were re-discovered by Phillip Carteret, in 1767. The 
group is very extensive, ranging many hundreds of 
miles northwest and southeast, although but eight or 
ten are well enough known to afford data for a de- 
scription. The principal are Malayta, Ysabel, Guadal- 
canar, Bougainville, San Christoval and Choiseul. 
They are of large size, some being fully 100 miles 
long by twenty or thirty miles wide, with lofty ranges 
of mountains sloping gradually to the sea, well 
watered and covered with trees and ferns, with here 
and there beautiful valleys, and streams of water 
meandering through them to the sea. 

The inhabitants are active and energetic, and are 
great mariners, their canoes being well built, and 
handled with consummate skill. Some of their war- 
canoes are fully eighty feet long, with beam of five 
feet, and carry sixty men. They are very skillful in 
carving, while many of their weapons and industrial 
implements are inlaid with the mother-of-pearl shell. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 67 



CHAPTER V. 



ISI^AIVDS 



Deep in the wave is a coral grove, 

Where the purple mullet and gold fish rove. 

James Gates Percival. 
CAROLINE ISLANDS. 

^T^HE Caroline group, extending almost from the 
I equator to 12 deg. north latitude, and ranging 
from 135 deg. to 177 deg. east longitude, com- 
prises over 500 islands. Dotting the great Pacific Sea 
with lands of Indescribable fertility and fabulous com- 
mercial possibilities, they are almost beyond the de- 
scription of tongue or pen. If anything were needed 
to substantiate the grandeur and extent of some of the 
islands and atolls of the Pacific, the following descrip- 
tion would alone suffice. 



THE GREAT ATOLL OF HOGOLEU. 

Lying at the eastern end of the great Caroline 
group, it surrounds and contains within its limits a 
principality. If one could imagine a strip of land 



68 THE ISLAND WORLD 

five to eight miles wide, varied In Its topography by 
mountain, hill and valley, traversing the ocean for 
nearly 300 miles. In almost the form of a circle, and 
this strip covered with the most beautiful tropical 
foliage, of fruit and other valuable trees, some idea 
of the outward form of Hogoleu might be obtained. 
Enclosed in this great circle of land lies the lagoon, 
with four greater and twenty smaller islands dotting 
the surface, on whose broad expanse of waters the 
combined navies of the Avorld might ride at safe 
and roomy anchorage. With three main outlets to 
the ocean, whose width and depth render them per- 
fectly safe for the passage of the greatest ships, 
the lagoon forms an inland harbor unequalled in any 
other part of the world. The islands in the lake, 
some of which are thirty to forty miles in circum- 
ference, are covered with valuable timber, and abound 
in all the tropical fruits, of the cocoanut, citron, 
bread-fruit, oranges, bananas and mangoes, with trees 
of the sago and date palm, and timber of the toa, 
tomano, prima vera, and great quantities of sandal- 
wood. Fine streams of fresh water flow through the 
valleys, while to add to the gorgeous beauty of the 
scene, birds with the most beautiful and valuable 
plumage give life and animation to the forests and 
glades. Here, too, the beche-de-mer, the tortoise 
and turtle find their favorite breeding-grounds, in the 
water and along the shores. The great lake teems 
with fish of nearly all the species found in the South 
Sea, many of whose brilliant hues and colors are 
only equalled by the pearl shell that line the bed 
of the laofoon. The latter is found here in trreat 
abundance, of the largest size and finest qualit)% 
covering the bottom of the lake wherever it can be 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 69 

seen, and of course in just as great If not greater 
abundance in the depths not reached by the eye. 

Our limited stay at Hogoleu hardly gave me time 
to form a just opinion of the character and manners of 
the natives, for which I have been forced to rely upon 
the valuable experiences and writings of others. 

INHABITANTS. 

"In judging of the character of the Caroline Island- 
ers, one must remember that there are always two sides 
to a question ; and In connection with this matter, I 
may refer to a fact which I regard as very significant. 
All Englishmen are familiar with the story of the 
wreck of the Antelope at the Pelew Islands in 1 793, 
and of the Prince Lee Boo, who accompanied Captain 
Wilson to England. These same Pelew Islanders, 
who at that time treated the shipwrecked Englishmen 
with such generous hospitality for a period of four 
months, seeking no return for the same, are now re- 
garded as piratical miscreants of the most atrocious 
type — and not without reason, for they have got into 
a bad habit of going out to sea in their fast-sailing- 
proas, and attacking, off the coasts of their islands, 
such vessels as may be becalmed or entangled among 
the shoals ; in which nefarious practice they have, on 
several occasions, so far succeeded as to have plun- 
dered the vessels and massacred their crews. This 
change of behavior is easily accounted for. In some 
cases it has arisen from ill treatment which they have 
experienced at the hands of strangers, but in most 
cases it has been the result of evil example by a set of 
scoundrels who disgrace humanity, and are to be found 
strolling about these seas, making themselves at home 



yo THE ISLAND WORLD 

among the simple-minded barbarians, and Instructing 
them in every vice and villainy. 

" No one knows with any certainty how many in- 
habitants are on Hogoleu ; some say 15,000, some 
20,000 ; but there are very many. They are armed 
with good swords with hilts of brass, daggers, spears 
pointed with iron, bows of great strength', arrows 
headed with Iron, and slings out of which they fling 
round stones with great certainty and with the force 
of a shot. The iron weapons they have purchased 
from traders of Manilla and elsewhere. They have 
many combats with crews of ships, and display great 
courage. No white men h9,ve ever lived among them, 
to anyone's knowledge, though I have heard there is 
one living there now, established by one Captain 
Hayes. Many men have been on shore and have 
been treated with hospitality. From what I have seen 
of them, they are a people I would have no fear of, 
although they have an ugly habit of attacking ships 
upon small grounds of offense. In 1870 they tried to 
board the Vesta, but the German captain, although he 
lost his anchor and chain by having to slip it, was more 
than a match for them. He fired upon them with 
scrap-iron and killed a great many. Of course, he was 
not to blame ; but these unfortunate misunderstandings 
tend very much to perpetuate ill feeling. 

''That the first Europeans who can succeed in 
establishing a permanent agency upon Hogoleu will 
make their fortunes in a very short period, Is an un- 
questionable fact. This Island presents to the com- 
mercial adventurer such an opportunity as is scarcely 
to be found elsewhere in the world — not alone from 
the valuable products of the land itself, but from the 
possession of so magnificent a harbor for shipping, 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 71 

whence could be extended the ramifications of a trade 
on a large scale throughout the whole great Caroline 
Archipelago. That there is any risk in the attempt, I 
do not for a moment believe. All that is required is 
for one determined man, acquainted with the Caroline 
tongue, to secure, by acceptable presents, the protec- 
tion of a chief, to marry into his family (as he would be 
required to do), and after a few months' diplomacy he 
might have it all his own way, so far as driving a trade 
for his owners was concerned." 



PELEW ISLANDS ATOLLS. . 

The Pelew Islands referred to form the extreme 
western end of the Caroline group, and were discov- 
ered by Drake in 1579; the main Carolines having 
been visited by Alonzo de Saavedra, as early as 1528, 
although the discovery of the group has been ascribed 
by some writers to Lopez Villa Lobas, in 1543, which 
is an evident mistake. 

These Atolls, or horse-shoe islands (such as I 
have described Hogoleu), are an important feature in 
the geological formation of the Pacific Isles, and are to 
be found in nearly every group, as well as scattered 
over the great waste of waters of the South Sea, 
sometimes isolated and alone, at others in groups and 
chains, having the appearance of the last outposts of a 
sunken continent. Darwin, Humboldt and others ac- 
count for their singular shape and formation by assum- 
ing that at one time they were portions of the main- 
land or continents, or islands, and that their centers, 
which at former periods were hilly and mountainous, 
gradually sank and disappeared ; the coral insect 
building the fringe or edge on the sunken lands in the 



y2 THE ISLAND WORLD 

form we now see them. They vary somewhat in size 
and form, and may be found from but a mile or so in 
diameter to hundreds of miles in circumference. 

The inland lakes are nearly always safe harboring 
for vessels sailing and trading in these seas. Gener- 
ally speaking, there are from one to four openings or 
passage-ways from the sea to the lagoons, through 
which the tide ebbs and flows. These channels vary 
from fifty to several hundred yards in width, and carry 
deep navigable water. In the storms and gales that 
sometimes prevail in these regions, an atoll might 
be truly termed the sailors' snug harbor. 

CORAL REEFS. 

A wide platform of rock, covered with the sea, 
except at low tide, borders most of the high islands 
of the Pacific. It is a vast accumulation of coral, 
based upon the bottom in the shallow waters of the 
shores. This bank or table of coral rock is of vary- 
ing width, from a few hundred feet to a mile or more ; 
and although the surface is usually nearly flat, it is often 
intersected by irregular boat channels, or occasionally 
incloses large bays, affording harbor protection to 
scores of ships. In very many instances it stands at a 
distance from the shores, like an artificial mole, leav- 
ing a wide and deep channel between it and the land, 
and within this channel are other coral reefs, some 
in scattered patches and others attached close to the 
shore. The inner reef in these cases is distinguished 
as the fringed reef, and the outer as the barrier reef. 
The sea rolls in heavy surges against the outer margin 
of the barrier ; but the still waters of a lake prevail 
within, affording safe navigation for the tottling canoe. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 73 

sometimes through the whole circuit of an island ; 
and not unfrequently ships may pass, as by an Internal 
canal, from harbor to harbor around the island. 

The reef is covered by the sea at high tide, yet 
the smoother waters indicate its extent and a line of 
breakers its outline. Occasionally a orreen islet rises 
from the reef, and In some instances a grove of 
palms stretches along the barrier for miles, where the 
action of the sea has raised the coral structure above 
the waves. 

Coral islands resemble the reefs just described, 
except that a lake or lagoon Is encircled instead of a' 
mountainous Island. A narrow rim of coral reef, gen- 
erally but a few hundred yards wide, stretches around 
the Inclosed waters. In some parts It is so low that 
the waves are still dashing over It Into the lagoon, 
and In others It Is verdant with the rich foliage of the 
tropics. The coral-made land when highest is seldom 
over eight or ten feet In height. 

When first seen from the deck of a vessel, only 
a series of dark points are descried just above the 
horizon. Shortly after, the points enlarge Into the 
plumed tops of the cocoanut trees, and a line of 
green, interrupted at intervals, is traced along the 
water's surface. Approaching still nearer, the lake 
and its belt of verdure are spread out before the eye, 
and a scene of more interest can scarcely be imagined. 
The surf beating loud and heavy along the margin of 
the reef, presents a strange contrast to the prospect 
beyond — the white coral beach, the massy foliage of 
the grove, and the embosomed lake with Its tiny islets. 
-;: ::: :!• Very crroneous ideas prevail respecting the 
appearance of a bed or area of growing corals. The 
submerged reef is often thought of as an extended 



7^ THE ISLAND WORLD 

mass of coral, alive uniformly over its upper surface, 
and by this living growth gradually enlarging upward ; 
and such preconceived views when ascertained to be 
erroneous by observation, have sometimes led to 
skepticism with regard to the zoophyte origin of the 
reef rock. Nothing is wider from the truth, and this 
must have been inferred from the description already 
given. Another glance at the coral plantation should 
be taken by the reader, before proceeding with the ex- 
planations which follow. 

Coral plantation and coral field are more appro- 
priate appellations than coral garden, and convey a 
juster impression of the surface of a growing reef 
Like a spot of wild land, covered in some parts with 
varied shrubbery, in other parts bearing only occa- 
sional tufts of vegetation over barren plains of sand, 
here a clump of saplings, and there a carpet of vari- 
ously colored flowers — such is the coral plantation. 

Numerous kinds of zoophytes grow scattered 
over the surface, like the vegetation of the land. 
There are laro^e areas that bear nothinor and others 
that are thickly overgrown. There is no green 
sward to the landscape, and here the comparison 
fails. Sand and fragments fill up the bare intervals 
between the flowering tufts, or where the zoophytes 
are crowded ; there are deep holes among the stony 
stems and folia, that seem as if formed among the 
aggregated roots of the living corals. '•' '•' * 

These fields of growing coral spread over sub- 
marine lands, such as the shores of islands and conti- 
nents, where the depth is not greater than their habits 
require — just as vegetation extends itself through re- 
gions that are congenial. The germ or ovule, which, 
when first produced, swims free, finds afterwards a 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 75 

point of rock or dead coral to plant itself upon, and 
thence springs the tree or some other form of coral 
growth. 

ANALOGY TO VEGETATION. 

The analogy to vegetation does not stop here. It 
is well known that the debris of the forest, decaying 
leaves and stems, and animal remains, add to the soil, 
and that accumulations of this kind are ceaselessly in 
progress ; that by this means, in the luxuriant swamp, 
deep beds of peaty earth are formed. So it is in the 
coral mead. Accumulations of fragments and sand 
from the coral zoophytes, and of shells and other relics 
of organic life, are in constant progress, and thus a bed 
of coral debris is formed and compacted. 

There is this difference — that a large part of the 
vegetable material consists of elements which escape 
as gases on decomposition ; whereas, coral is itself an 
enduring rock material, undergoing no essential 
change except the mechanical one of com.minution, the 
animal portion is but a mere fraction of the whole zo- 
ophyte. 

In these few hints we have the whole theory of 
reef making; not a speculative opinion, but a legiti- 
mate deduction from a few simple facts, and bearing 
close analogy on land. The coral debris and shells 
fill up the intervals between the coral patches and the 
cavities among the living tufts, and in this manner pro- 
duce the reef deposit, which is consolidated by the 
filtrating sea-water, having more or less lime in so- 
lution. 

(Notes from U. S. Ex. Expedition in 1838, '39, '40, '41 and '42 ; 
James D. Dana, A. M., Geol. of Ex.) 



y6 THE ISLAND WORLD 

AUSTRALIA. 

The leviathan of the island groups of the world, 

Australia (literally South Asia), lies between latitude 
lo deg. 43 min. and 39 deg. 9 min. south, and longi- 
tude 113 deg. 15 min. and 153 deg. east, comprising 
within its vast limits three million square miles. It 
has a sea-coast of over eight thousand miles, along 
the line of which eighty-two small islands are located. 
Australia was discovered about 1606 by the Dutch, 
who were the first to locate it and chronicle its exist- 
ence in modern times. It was first named by them 
New Holland, a name retained for many years. 

From the sea this great island-continent presents 
an uninviting appearance, giving one the impression 
that the crags and mountains fringing the shores en- 
close a sterile waste within. Probably no country in 
the world has received more attention from men of 
science and explorers than Australia, and that, too, 
with less beneficial results, as the great mountain ran- 
ges and barren wastes of the interior are to-day as an 
unknown land. 

One of the greatest detriments to its rapid pro- 
gress in peopling and civilization, was its establish- 
ment as a penal colony by Great Britain. This, to- 
gether with the low order of the native races, some 
two hundred thousand in number, who are little above 
the animal in the scale of humanity, proved for many 
years a great barrier to the peopling of the island with 
the better classes. Until 1851 the progress of Aus- 
tralia was under a ban; when Mr. Hargreaves, return- 
ing from the gold fields of California, discovered the 
precious metal on the island. From this time may be 
dated the advancement of that country. The gold 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN fj 

fever drew people from all parts of the world to settle 
on her shores. Cities and towns rapidly sprang into 
existence, while the consequent development of great 
agricultural resources, fed with the thousand millions 
in gold taken from her mines, placed her at once 
amonof the o^reat countries of the world. With the 
single exception of California, nothing like Australia's 
progress has occurred in ancient or modern times. 
The discovery of many valuable mines of copper, coal, 
tin, lead and silver followed that of gold, and being 
found in large and paying quantities, add largely to 
the income of the inhabitants. 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

The mountain ranges on the island are but few in 
number. The greatest altitude of those already dis- 
covered does not exceed seven thousand feet. 

There are many ponds and swamps in the inte- 
rior, with few navigable streams — only in the rainy 
season. Even then navigation is very uncertain, as 
the waters of most of the rivers frequently disappear 
— lost in the sands of the surrounding wastes. 

The flora of the island is not varied or extensive, 
but two species forming the principal forest growth — 
the eucalyptii and acacia — although more than one 
hundred varieties of each of these interesting species 
are found, and in great abundance. 

GEOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL. 

The geological formation is quite an Interesting 
study, partaking of the eruptic, metamorphic, trappean, 
with the sedimentary sandstones of the tertiary period. 



y8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

From careful scientific observations, it is found that 
Australia is slowly rising from the deep — gradually but 
surely taking its place among the continents of the 
world. Unlike some of its short-lived neighbors lying 
to the westward in the Straits of Sudan, whose appear- 
ance and disappearance mark but a period in the 
birth, growth and death of islands, Australia is appa- 
rently on a foundation that may last for all time. The 
population is about two millions, who, when not min- 
ing, are principally in the agricultural and grazing in- 
terests. The value of exports and imports may be 
stated at ^500,000,000 per annum. 

The island, from its immense area, is marked off 
in several colonial divisions. The principal of these 
are Northern Australia, or Alexandra's Land, colonized 
in 1838 ; Western Australia, colonized in 1829 ; south 
from which is Tasman's Land, surveyed in 18 18; Sou- 
thern Australia, colonized in 1834; Queensland on 
the northeast, and New South Wales on the southeast, 
colonized in 1778. 

Captain Cook is credited with the discovery of 
Australia in 1770. Tasman, who discovered New Zea- 
land and Tasmania as early as 1642, could not have 
failed to notice and locate it in his voyages. Dirk 
Hartog, a Dutch navigator, is credited also with its 
discovery, by some authorities, in 1606. 

NEW ZEALAND. 

This group of three principal and thirteen smaller 
Islands, to the southeast of Australia, between lati- 
tudes 34 deg. and 48 deg. south and 161 deg. and 179 
deg. east longitudes, comprise in their area 122,582 
square miles, a little larger than Great Britain and 
Ireland. The population is 476,000. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN yg 

The geological formation Is volcanic eruptic, with 
the sedimentary formations and fossils of the tertiary 
period. Like Australia, the lands are slowly rising- 
from the sea. 

Of minerals, the islands have an abundant sup- 
ply — coal, copper, iron, lead and manganese being 
found. 

The natural veofetatlon of New Zealand is won- 
derful In Its luxuriance, many hundreds of species 
crowding the forests. Nearly all of these are of the 
evergreen type, and give to the Islands an appear- 
ance of perpetual spring. 

Of the animal kingdom there is but little to be 
said, as when discovered in 1642, by Tasman, a species 
of rat and the dog were about the only animals to be 
found. Those of a more recent date are altogether 
domestic, the results of importations from other coun- 
tries by the settlers. 

From the long narrow configuration of the 
islands, the streams, though many in number, are of 
no great length, breadth or depth. 

Mountain ranges cross the islands in many places, 
but generally speaking are not of great prominence, 
if we except Mt. Cook, which is supposed to be 
14,000 feet high. There are many evidences of vol- 
canic action throughout the group. Tongariro is the 
only active volcano at the present time. 

Of the natives, Mr. Taylor says: "The New 
Zealanders are decidedly a mixed race — some have 
wooly hair, others brown or flaxen ; some are many 
shades darker than others. The peculiar features of 
the Mongol are also very common ; the oblique eye, 
the yellow countenance, the remarkable depression of 
the space between the eyes so that there is no rise in 



8o THE ISLAND WORLD 

the nose, seem clearly to Indicate that some portion 
of the race is of Chinese of Japanese descent. 



TASMANIA. 

Tasmania, or Van pieman's Land, just south of 
Australia, between 40 deg. 40 min. and 43 deg. 38 
min. south latitude, and longitude 144 deg. 33 min. 
and 148 deg.. 28 min. east, a group of some seven- 
teen islands occur ; but one of them is of any size or 
importance at present. 

Tasmania was discovered and located by Tasman 
in 1642, but was re-located and taken possession of 
by the English in 1803. The island has an area of 
22,629 square miles, with a population of 110,000. 

The island is of a similar formation to Australia, 
althouMi the soil is much more fertile, and without 
any of the desert wastes of the larger island. The 
mountain ranges are extensive, but not of very great 
height. The forests are immense, the eucalyptus .and 
acacia. In all their many varieties, growing in the 
greatest luxuriance. 

Of minerals, Tasmania has an abundance^— (^bld, 
copper. Iron and coal mines are worked at a consid- 
erable profit. 

The climate Is temperate ; all the fruits, vegeta- 
bles and cereals are cultivated, forming one of the 
principal exports of the group. 

The natives are of the same type as the abo- 
rigines of New Zealand and Australia, and are now 
nearly extinct. 




COFFEE PLANT — JAVA. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 8r 



CHAPTER VI. 



ISI<A]K»Si 



The place is all avvave with trees, 

Limes, myrtles, purple-beaded; 

Acacias having drunk the lees 

Of the night-dew, faint-headed ; 

And wan, grey olive-woods, which seem 

The fittest foliage for a dream. 

E. B. Browning {Ah Island). 

JAVA. 

THE Island of Java, with its 52,000 square miles^ 
peopled by nearly eighteen millions of inhabi- 
tants — the ''land of fire," the home of the erup- 
tic volcano and earthquake — has long been the subject 
of interesting study for the historian and scientist. 

Here we find, besides innumerable smaller ones, 
one of the largest volcanic craters in the world, having 
a circumference around its edge of about twelve miles. 
In 1772 this crater was in active force, casting its ashes 
and scoria over a great tract of country. Thousands 
of inhabitants lost their lives — either caught in their 
homes by the burning lava, or suffocated by the smoke, 
ashes and sulphur. The heavens were lit up for hun- 
dreds of miles around with a glare only equalled by 
that of the aw^oi^a bo7^ealis, the surroundino- seas liter- 



6* 



82 THE ISLAND WORLD 

ally covered with the finer particles of pumice and 
ashes, while the dust and smoke hung in and darkened 
the heavens for days afterwards. 

Another eruption took place in 1832, with the loss 
of nearly thirty thousand lives, and again in 1883, when 
it is supposed one hundred thousand people were de- 
stroyed, with a vast waste created over a beautiful and 
thriving agricultural country. 

GENERAL FEATURES. 

The topographical features of the island, its chains 
of mountains and plateaus, with the valleys lying be- 
tween, the latter well watered by meandering rivers, 
are nearly all taken advantage of by a skillful, agricul- 
tural people. The waters from abundant rainfalls 
are treasured in reservoirs on the higher plateaus, and 
held in reserve for the drier periods. They are thus 
enabled to reap two crops per annum, and place their 
plantations in almost continuous bloom. On the cul- 
tivated lands, immense quantities of coffee, sugar, rice 
and cotton are grown, with all the fruits of the tropics, 
as well as the clove, nutmeg and cinnamon, and other 
spices. 

Included in the flora of the native forests are the 
gutta percha, toa tomano, camphor, sandal, satin-wood 
and mahogany trees. 

The agricultural methods adopted by the natives, 
with the use of irrigation, was imparted to them by the 
Hindoos and others of the East India countries, who 
visited this Island in great numbers many years pre- 
vious to the ninth century. 

The Inhabitants at present are hospitable and in- 
telligent — partaking of the higher class of Arabs In 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 83 

character and religion. The Mohammedan beHef Is 
general, having been forced on the Javanese by the 
Arabs in the 15th century. 



MICHELET ON JAVA. 

Of Java, Michelet, the great French writer, says : 
It is dowered with fires. Notwithstanding its Hmited 
area, it possesses as many as the entire continent of 
America, and all of them more terrible than burning 
Etna. And to these we must add its liquid volcano, 
its vein of somber azure which the Japanese call the 
*' Black River." This the great Equatorial Current, 
which in its northerly course warms the Asiatic seas, 
is remarkable for its muddiness, and tastes Salter than 
human blood. 

A hot sea — -a torrid sun — volcanic fire — volcanic 
life! Not a day passes but a tempest breaks out 
among the Blue Mountains, with lightning so vivid 
that the eye cannot endure to gaze at it. Torrents of 
electric rain intoxicate earth and madden vegetation. 
The very forests smoking with wreathed vapors in the 
burning sun, seem so many additional volcanoes sit- 
uated midway on the mountain slopes. 

In the loftier regions, they are frequently inac- 
cessible, and sometimes so thickly intertangled, so 
dense, so gloomy, that the traveler who penetrates 
them must carry torches even at noonday. Nature 
without an eye to watch her, celebrates there her 
** orgies of vegetation," and creates, as Blum informs 
us. her river monsters and colossi. 

Stemless rhizanthse seize on the roots of a tree 
and gorge themselves with its pith and vitality. Trav- 
elers speak of a species which measures six feet in 



84 THE ISLAND WORLD 

circumference. Their splendor, shining in the deep 
night of the forest, astonishes, nay, almost terrifies 
the spectator. These children of the darkness owe 
nothing of their resplendent coloring to the light. 
Flourishing low down in the warm vapors, and fat- 
tened by the breath of earth, they seem to be its lux- 
urious dreams, its strange airy phantasies of desire. 

Java has two faces. The southern, wears already 
the aspect of Oceania, enjoys a pure air. and is 
surrounded by rocks all alive with polypes and 
madepores. To the north, however, it is still in 
India — India, with all it inherits of unhealthiness ; a 
black alluvial soil, fermenting with the deadly travail 
of Nature reacting on herself, with the work of com- 
bination and decomposition. Its inhabitants have 
been compelled to abandon the once opulent town of 
Bantam, w^iich is now a mass of ruins. Superb Ba- 
tavia is one triumphant cemetery. In less than thirty- 
years — from 1730 to 1752 — it swallowed up a million 
of human lives ; sixty thousand in a single twelve-month 
(1750)! And though it is not so terrible now, its 
atmosphere has not been purified to any considerable 
extent. 

The animals of the primeval, world which live 
forgotten in its bosom are remarkable, it seems, for 
their funeral aspect. In the evening enormous hairy 
bats, such as are found nowhere else, flutter to and 
fro. By day, and even at noon, the strange flying 
dragon, that memorial of a remote epoch, when the 
serpent was endowed with wings, does not hesitate to 
make its appearance. Numerous black animals exist 
which agree in color with the black basalt of the moun- 
tains. And black, too, is the tiger, that terrible destroyer, 
which as late as 1830, devoured annually 300 lives. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 85 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The double mountain chain, which forms the back- 
bone of Java, is intersected by numerous internal val- 
leys, running- in opposite directions, varying the specta- 
cle. This diversity of surface insures a corresponding 
diversity of vegetation. The soil in the valleys is 
madreporic, and was once alive. At a higher level it 
has its foundation of granite, loaded with fertile ruins 
and hot debris of the volcanoes. The whole is a vast 
ascending scale, which from sea to mountain presents 
six different climates, rising from the marine flora and 
the flora of the marshes to the Alpine flora. A superb 
amphitheater, rich and abundant at each gradation, 
bearing the dominant plants and those transitional 
forms which lead up from one to the other, and lead 
so ingeniously that without any lacuna or abrupt leap, 
we are carried onwards, and vainly endeavor to trace 
between the six climates any rigorous lines of de- 
marcation. 

In the lowlands facing India and the boiling 
caldron of the ocean, the mangrove absorbs the 
vapors. But towards Oceania and the region of the 
thousand isles, the cocoanut tree rises, with its foot in 
the emerald wave and its crest lightly rocking in the 
full fresh breeze. 

The palm is here of little value. Above its bam- 
boos and resinous trees, Java wears a magnificent 
girdle, or zone, of forest — a forest wholly composed 
of teak, the oak of oaks, the finest wood in the world 
— indestructible teak. * * * 

Here every kind of food, and all the provisions 
of the five worlds superabound. The rice, maize, 
figs and bananas of Hjndostan ; the pears of China ; 



86 THE ISLAND WORLD 

the apples of Japan, flourish in company with the 
peach, pineapple and orange of Europe — aye, and 
even with the strawberry, which extends its growth 
along the banks of the streams. 

All this is the innocence of nature. But side by 
side with it prevails another and more formidable 
world — that of the higher vegetable energies, the 
plants of temptation, seductive, yet fatal, which double 
the pleasures, while shortening the duration of life. 

At present they reign throughout the earth, from 
pole to pole. They make and unmake nations. The 
least of these terrible spirits has wrought a greater 
change in the globe than any war. They have im- 
planted in man the volcanic fires ; and a soul, a 
violent spirit which is indefinable, which seems less a 
human thing than a creature of the planet. They have 
effected a revolution, which, above all, has changed 
our idea of time. Tobacco kills the hours and ren- 
ders them insensible. Coffee shortens them by the 
stimulus it affords the brain ; it converts them into 
minutes. 

Foremost among the sources of intoxication to 
which care unhappily resorts, we must name alcohol. 
Eight species of the sugar-cane which thrive in Java 
abundantly supply this agent of delirium and fofcible 
feebleness. No less abundantly flourishes tobacco, 
the herb of dreams, which has enshrouded the world 
in its misty vapors. Fortunately Java also produces 
immense supplies of its antidote, coffee. It is this 
which contends against tobacco, and supplies the 
place of alcohol. The island of Java alone furnishes 
a fourth of all the coffee drank by man, and a coffee, 
too, of fine quality, which has been dried sufficiendy, 
without any fear of reducing it3 weight. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 8j 

Formerly Java and Its neighboring lands were 
known as spice islands only, and as producing freely 
violent drugs and medicinal poisons. Frightful stories 
were circulated of its deadly plants, the juice of which 
was a mortal venom — of the Gueva-Upas, which but to 
touch was death ! 

CLIMATE. 

He who would see the East in all the fullness of 
its magical, voluptuous and sinister forces, should ex- 
plore the great bazaars of Java. There the curious 
jewels wrought by the cunning Indian hand are ex- 
posed to the desires of woman, temptation and the 
cost of pleasure. There, too, may be seen another 
seductive agency — the vegetable fury of the burning 
and scorching plains which is so eagerly sought after ; 
the perfumes of terrible herbs and flowers, as yet un- 
named. Marvelous and profound the night, in its 
sweet repose, after the violent heats of the day ! But 
be cautious in your enjoyment of it; as it grows old it 
breathes death ! 

Take note of this : The peculiarity that gives to 
these bazaars so curious an effect is, that all the throng- 
ing crowds are dusky, with dark complexions, and all 
the ■ animals are black. The contrast is sinorular in 
this land of glowing light. The heat seems to have 
burned up everything, and tinted each object with 
shadow. The little horses, as they gallop past you, 
seem but so many flashes of darkness ; the buffaloes, 
slowly arriving, loaded with fruit and flowers — with 
the most radiant gifts of life — all wear a livery of blu- 
ish black. 

Beware, at this time of night, not to wander too 
far, or ramble in the higher grounds, lest you should 



88 THE ISLAND WORLD 

encounter the black panther, whose green eyes ilhi- 
mine the obscurity with a terrific glare ! And — who 
knows ? — the splendid tyrant of the forest, the black 
tiger, may have begun his midnight prowl — that for- 
midable phantom which the Malays of Java believe to 
be the spirit of Death ! 

I have quoted thus, at some length, from the writ- 
ings of Michelet, as the ideas advanced will serve alike 
for Sumatra and some of the Mollucca Islands. 

Borneo, singularly, is altogether free from the 
eruptic, volcanic and earthquake forces. Situated al- 
most directly in the course of the "fire belt," there are 
yet no authentic records in the history of Borneo, for 
ages past, of any of those fearful outbursts so frequent 
in Java and Sumatra. 

LITTLE JAVA. 

Much more could be written of Java and the is- 
lands surrounding it. As almost a part of the greater 
island, we might cite Little Java, with nearly four thou- 
sand square miles of area, and a population of about 
eight hundred thousand people. Separated from 
Great Java by a strait hardly two miles in width, its 
configuration, climate, inhabitants and products are so 
similar that a description would bat tire the reader. 

COFFEE. 

Before leaving Java, it might be well to notice 
coffee, the principal and most valuable product of that 
island. Coffea Aribica, no doubt, derives its name 
from Kaffa, a district of Southern Abyssinia, on the 
east coast of Africa. The coffee plant is an evergreen, 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 89 

and was first found growing wild in Arabia. Africa and 
some portions of South America. It is sometimes 
cultivated at a heicrht of six thousand feet above the 
sea-level, but this only in warm countries, as the tree 
does not thrive in climates where the thermometer falls 
below 55 deg. 

In its wild state the tree grows from ten to thirty 
feet high, but when cultivated it is pruned down to five 
or six feet — the yield being greater, while the berry is 
much easier to harvest. The young plants are usually 
grown from the seed in nurseries, and when a year old 
are transplanted to such localities as desired. The 
tree, hi favorable climates, begins to bear fruit at three 
years, but hardly in paying quantities until the fifth 
year. From this age the plant bears from two to three 
crops per annum for twenty years, after which the yield 
is hardly profitable, when the older trees are replaced 
with younger plants. 

The fruit of the coffee tree greatly resembles the 
cherry, in size and color, when ripe ; the coffee, as we 
see it in commerce, being the seeds, of which there are 
two to each berry. The kernels are extracted, after 
the fruit is thoroughly dried, by being passed through 
wooden rollers, which crush and separate the hull from 
the grains. 

The best coffee is Mocha, grown in the province 
of Yemen, in Arabia ; that from Java taking second 
place. Brazil is credited with producing something 
over half of all the coffee consumed in the world, al- 
though the quality is not equal to Mocha or Java. It 
is a little difficult to judge of the brands of coffee of- 
fered in the markets nowadays, as much that is grown 
in outside districts, and of an inferior quality, is shipped 
to Mocha and other leading districts, and re-shipped 



po THE ISLAND WORLD 

under the brands -of the best products from those 
places. 

Little is known-of the early history of coffee, al- 
though we read of its being used as a beverage in 
Ethiopia as early as A. D. 875. At a more modern 
period, we note its introduction into Arabia from Af- 
rica — in the fifteenth century — and in Venice in 161 5, 
and in England in about 1 640. It was first introduced 
into Java by the Dutch between 1680 and 1690. 

BORNEO. 

This great island, whose area exceeds 284,000 
square miles, lying on either side of the equator, be- 
tween latitude 7 deg. 10 min. north and 3 deg. 40 min. 
south, and between longitudes 109 deg. 30 min. and 
118 deg. 30 min. east, is the third in size among the 
islands of the Pacific. 

The population is about three millions. There 
are many beautiful bays and inlets along its two thou- 
sand miles of coast line, although navigation is made 
exceedingly dangerous by the many islets and rocks 
that dot the sea along its shores. Beautiful rivers 
traverse Borneo, winding through its valley and plains, 
and are in most cases broad, navigable streams. Forty 
of this character are already known. 

Great ranees of mountains rib the island here and 
there, some of them towering nearly 14,000 feet above 
the level of the sea. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 

Physically speaking, Borneo may be described 
as one immense forest, generally of moderate elevation 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN gi 

— that Is, 300 to 700 feet — traversed by great rivers, 
which descend from a central group of mountains, and 
surrounded by wide alluvial plains, edged with man- 
grove swamps, or broken up into low deltas, constant- 
ly subject to inundation. It has, therefore, a physical 
character distinct from that of Java or Sumatra. Its 
plains are of much greater extent, and its mountains, 
on an average, do not attain the same elevation. 

From northeast to southwest extends a chain of 
mountains, nearly parallel to, but at a great distance 
from, the west coast, which, in or near latitude 3 cleg, 
north, curves around, to terminate at Cape Sipang. 
From this chain a short spur projects, and links it to 
a double range of lesser height, one of which runs 
southwest to a point near Cape Sambas, while the 
other pursues an irregular southeastern direction and 
reaches Cape Salatan. The culminating point of the 
first-named chain is Kinibulu, 13,680 feet in height. 
This is the loftiest summit on -the island, and on the 
east side of it lies a great lake, the source of numer- 
ous rivers. 

The other important peaks are Kamangting, in 
the southwest chain — 6, 500 feet; Lunangi, in the south- 
east, 6,300 feet; Meratoo, also in the southeast, 4,000; 
Batang-Loopar, east of Sarawak, 4,000 ; Krimbang and 
Saramboo, both south of Sarawak, 3,250 and 3,000. 
respectively; and Santibong, at the mouth of the river 
Sarawak, 2,050 feet. Thus it is evident that the gen- 
eral elevation of the island is not considerable. If it 
were sunk five hundred feet, at least four-fifths of its 
area would disappear, leaving several long peninsulas, 
of tolerable breadth, divided by broad ocean channels, 
and relieved by solitary mountain peaks rising here 
and there above the waters. If sunk one thousand 



92 THE ISLAND WORLD 

feet, nothing would remain but a few of these penin- 
sulas ; the ocean ways would be broader, and the 
mountain peaks wider apart. 

RIVERS. 

We come now to the rivers of Borneo. In most 
countries the<:onfiguration of the surface is determined 
by the course of one principal river, or it is defined by 
the basins of two or three main streams. Thus, Ger- 
many is marked out by the basin of the Rhone and 
Loire ; Egypt, by the valley of the Nile. So far as our 
knowledge of Borneo at present extends, it offers us 
no such assistance in surveying and laying down its 
superficial area. Its rivers are mostly tidal, but their 
basins seem to be very narrow, and they descend lan- 
guidly and slowly through vast level deltas, which 
merge into inundated plains. 

The littoral or shore country on the north and 
northwest, a comparatively level tract about six hun- 
dred miles in length, is watered by a perfect network 
of rivers, though probably not one of them exceeds a 
hundred and fifty miles in its full career. They rise 
from the range of mountains of which Kinibulu is the 
culminating summit, and their course being short, are 
more rapid than those in any other part of the island. 
Some of them preserve their fresh water character 
down to the very coast. 

Tracing them from the north, we may notice, first, 
the River Brunai (Borneo), a broad sheet of water, 
navigable for some distance by large ships. Next, the 
Binbula and the Judal, both of which are considerable 
streams. Passing Cape Sinik, we observe the mouths 
of the Rejang, which, at eighty miles from its mouth, 
is one mile wide. Still larger than these is the noble 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 9j 

Butong-Lupai, which measures nearly five miles across, 
and can float a large frigate. The Sarawak, famous in 
the annals of English enterprise, is not so remarkable 
for its lenofth or breadth as for its numerous branches, 
which ramify in such a manner as to afford to an exten- 
sive district all the advantages of water communication. 

South of the equator we find the Mejak, the Sam- 
bas and the Kapooas. The first named was ascended 
by a Dutch steamer, as far as Malu, in March, 1855. 
The last named is one of the chief rivers on the island 
— perhaps the chief — measuring not less than seven 
hundred miles in its sinuous course. 

On the south coast we notice the Djelli, the Pem- 
buan, the Medawi, the Great Dayak, the Little Dayak, 
the Kahajau, the Murong, ^nd the Bangermassin, or 
Burdo. This last is connected by several arms with 
the Murong on the west, and thence again with the 
Kahajau ; so that a water-way penetrates into the very 
heart of the interior. In the lower part of its course 
it is continually overflowing the country, as its name 
indicates — Bangei'massin ("frequent floods"). In the 
upper part it is called the Dooson, or village river, be- 
cause its banks are occupied by several agricultural 
communities. It is fed on the east by the Nagara, a 
river which in itself is of considerable importance. 

On the east coast the rivers are not so large nor 
so numerous, but we notice the Kooti, with its wide 
delta, extending over one hundred miles of coast. It 
was ascended by Major Muller, a Dutch officer, in 
1825, and he had succeeded in crossing the mountains 
and descending into the valley of the Kapooas, when 
he was murdered by the Dyaks. Further to the north 
lies the Pautai, or river of Beron. 

(Adams's Eastern Archipelago.) 



94 THE ISLAND WORLD 

VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL KINGDOM. 

The soil of Borneo is very fertile, producing all 
that has made Sumatra and Java so famous. The 
flora is extensive and varied, the forests abounding in 
all the valuable woods and plants of the tropics, while 
the cultivation of the rattan, bamboo, banana, betel 
nut, cocoanut, bread-fruit, sugar-cane, tobacco, cotton, 
lemon, orange, clove, rice, nutmeg, ginger and opium 
poppy are but a portion of the valuable products. The 
sago and date-palm, the ebony, gutta percha, toa, to- 
mano, prima vera, sandal, camphor and cinnamon trees 
adorn the forests. 

The animal and rriineral kingdoms are well repre- 
sented ; the former embraC;ing the elephant and hippo- 
potami, the rhinoceros, tiger and panther, the ourang- 
utan and the different species of the monkey tribe, 
roam through the vast forests or prowl among the 
jungles. In the latter kingdom we find gold, silver, 
lead, antimony, tin, iron and coal. The beds of many 
of the streams teem with that valuable gem, the dia- 
mond, mining for which has formed one of the indus- 
tries on this island for ages. 

Nor are the reptilian, finny or feathered species 
without an extensive representation. The swamps, 
morasses and forests are the homes of the great py- 
thon, descending the scale through numerous species 
to the little coralilla, whose bite is certain death. The 
seas, rivers and bays teem with fish of all the species 
known in the tropics. Birds of the most beautiful and 
valuable plumage abound in the forest, while an end- 
less variety of the aquatic kind frequent the pools, 
lakes and rivers. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 95 

DIAMOND MINING 

One of the most valuable industries on the 
island of Borneo is diamond mining — a business fol- 
lowed in some countries for ages past. Borneo is not 
alone in her diamond-fields, as Sumatra, Australia and 
Tasmania have furnished some valuable gems. One 
found in the southwestern portion of Borneo, in the 
district of Mattan, and now in possession of the rajah 
of that region, weighs 2)^^ carats, and is valued at 
something over ^1,000,000. 

Golconda, a district between Cape Cormorin and 
the Bay of Bengal, has been a celebrated diamond- 
field for ages past. Tavenier described a gem found 
in this region and taken possession of by the Great 
Mogul, as weighing 900 carats. 

The diamond-fields of Brazil, located in the Sierra 
de Frio, in the province of Minas Geraes, were dis- 
covered in 1728. A gem found here, and now be- 
longing to the king of Portugal, weighs 1,680 carats, 
valued by- some experts at the modest sum of $28,- 
000,000. As a carat in diamond weight is equal to 
the 150th part of an ounce Troy, and nearly the 137th 
part of an averdupois ounce, we have in this diamond 
a gem weighing nearly a pound Troy, and about four- 
fifths of a pound averdupois. 

Brazil was for many years the principal diamond 
mining country, furnishing stones of great beauty and 
In great numbers to the world. In 1868 they were dis- 
covered in South Africa, where the district as far as 
known contains an area of 17,000 square miles. 
Many of the diamonds from this locality are of a 
yellowish cast, and not near so valuable as those 
found in other countries. The largest stone found 



g6 THE ISLAND WORLD 

here was the Stewart,' weighing 288^^ carats, and of 
fine quaHty. 

They are found in many other countries — in the Ural 
Mountains ; in Hindostan ; and in the United States, in 
North CaroHna, Georgia, Virginia and CaHfornia. 

In addition to those already mentioned, the fame 
of the Kohinoor, of England, weighing 279 carats; 
the Orloff, of Russia, 195 carats; the Regent, or Pitt. 
136^ ; and the Sanci, 106 carats, is world wide. 

Previous to the 15th century the gems were worn 
in the rough, just as they came from the mines, and 
of course lacked the brilliancy given to them by cut- 
ting and polishing. This art was discovered by 
Louis von B.ergnen, in the above century, and gave 
to the diamond a value unequalled by any other gem. 

Its uses in glass-cutting and in the manufacture 
of diamond-drills, for mining purposes, are so well 
known as to require no description here. 

In mining for diamonds similar processes to those 
in use in placer mining for gold are resorted to. They 
are found just below the later alluvial deposits, inter- 
mixed in the stratum of gravel, clay and rolled quartz 
lying over the bed-rock, once forming the beds of 
streams and gravel deposits. From this deposit the 
stratum is washed through sluices with an abundance of 
water, the diamonds being found among the heavier 
particles remaining in the sluices after the washing. 

The standard for valuing diamonds, presuming 
that they are of fair quality, is to multiply the square 
of the weight in carats by the value per carat. Tak- 
ing the Kohinoor, for example: weight 279 carats, 
squared, would equal 77,844, which multiplied by the 
value, assuming it to be $20 per carat, would give 
$1,556,820. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 97 

This amount would be its presumable value in 
the weight given, although that was reduced by cut- 
ting and polishing to 186, and by still another cutting 
and polishing, which brought the weight down to 106 
carats. 



9S THE ISLAND WORLD 



CHAPTER VII 



ISI^AIKDS. 



A fleet descry'd 
Hangs in the clouds, by equinoctial winds 
Close sailing from Bengala, or the isles 
Of Ternate and Tidore, where merchants bring 
Their spicy drugs. 

Milton {Paradise Lost.) 

SUMATRA. 

TAXTENDING in an oblique direction, to thenorth- 
Ty west, lying almost immediately under the equator, 
running from latitude 6 deg. lo min., south to 
5 deg. 40 min. north, and between longitudes 95 deg. 
10 min. and 107 deg. 10 min. east, is located the 
island of Sumatra. Twenty to thirty islands along 
the greater one's shores could be enumerated, but 
are of no special importance at present. Next to 
Borneo in size, having an area of about 160,000 
square miles, with 4,500,000 people, Sumatra is a 
garden-spot, unsurpassed in valuable productions, ex- 
cept perhaps by Java, 

Its position is easily remembered. Its northern 
portion is separated from the Malayan peninsula on 
the east by the Strait of Mallaca ; on the west it is 
bounded by the Indian Ocean ; on the south it is 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN pp 

divided from Java by the narrow arm of die sea called 
the Strait of Sunda. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The eastern portion of the island is remarkable 
for its continuous levels, which are freely watered by 
several large but sluggish rivers — the Rav^^as, the 
Jambi, the Indgari — that form extensive deltas at 
their mouths, and have for ages been contributing to 
fill up the shallow sea, into which they fall. Very dif- 
ferent in" character the western portion. Here, from 
northwest to southwest, stretch range upon range of 
mountains, all running parallel to the coast, and in- 
creasing in elevation from 2,000 to 5,000 feet. These 
are broken up by short latteral valleys, and again by 
extensive longitudinal valleys, clothed with the fig and 
the myrtle, the arica and nibon palms. The littoral 
belt, or shore-land, varies greatly in breadth. On the 
southwest side of the island the mountains seem to 
start up directly from the ocean, and for nearly 400 
miles the distance between the beach and the wooded 
base of the hills is two miles, though towards the 
north it widens on the average to six miles, and at a 
few points to twelve miles. 

ANIMAL LIFE. 

The reader will easily understand that the scenery 
in the western division of the Island presents many 
romantic features. The mountain peaks rising so 
abruptly from the shore, and clothed with hanging 
woods, are necessarily objects of much grandeur ; and 
intersecting valleys, enriched with a tropical vegeta- 
tion, the forms and colors of which have a rare at- 



loo THE ISLAND WORLD 

traction for the eye of the traveler, are characterized 
by numerous landscapes of great splendor. The in- 
terior of the island is but imperfectly known ; but one 
of these valleys, stretching up to the foot of Mount 
Merapi, is fully loo miles in length, and is regarded 
by some authorities as the original home of the 
Malayan race. Birds of bright tinted plumage dart 
in and out of the thick boughs of the wide-spreading 
woodland, and blend their voices, often harsh and 
shrill, with the murmur of falling streams. Here in 
the virgin forest the agile monkey leaps from branch 
to branch ; or the siawang, with his immense long 
arms, five feet six inches across in an adult about 
three feet high, swings himself with wonderful rapidity 
from tree to tree. Here, in the remote recesses, 
the ourang-utan live its melancholy life ; the rhinoc- 
eros wades in the shallow streams, and the elephant 
crashes through the jungle with colossal bulk. '•• ''' '•' 

FLORA. 

Turning to the vegetable wealth of this great 
island, we meet with the most valuable productions of 
the tropical world. In the forest the huge trees, co- 
lossal In crirth and of noble heio^ht, are linked to- 
gether and surrounded by innumerable parasites and 
creeping plants, often of great beauty, which inter- 
lace with one another so as to form an almost im- 
pervious labyrinth. On the shore we meet with the 
spreading mangrove, its pendulous roots closely 
matted and intertwined, forming an incomparable 
breakwater, and stemming the aggressive tide. Re- 
taining the particles of earth that sink to the bottom 
between them, they gradually, but surely elevate the 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN loi 

level of the soil, and as the new formation rises and 
broadens, a thousand seeds are sown upon it, a thou- 
sand fresh roots descend to strengthen and consoli- 
date it; and in this way the mangrove repels the 
wave and asserts the supremacy of the land over the 
baffled sea. * * ♦ 

On the mountain slopes, from an altitude of five 
hundred to that of six thousand feet, the forest is 
largely composed of oaks of several species. They 
are noble trees, and of much value ; but in a commer- 
cial sense a higher value attaches to the Dryanobalops, 
which yields the all-important camphor. About one 
degree below the equator, its place is occupied by the 
Diptuocarpus, a tree of gigantic proportions, which 
produces the resin called ''dammar." 

On the rough bark of many of the forest trees 
grows that extraordinary parasite, the Rafflesia, the 
largest known flower, measuring fully three feet in 
diameter, and expanding a calyx which is capable of 
holding six quarts of water. 

The principal exports of Sumatra are capsicums, 
ginger, betel, tobacco, indigo, cotton, camphor, benzoin, 
cassia or common cinnamon, rattans, ebony, sandal- 
wood, teak and aloes, ivory, rice, wax, and edible birds' 
nests. To the list of the island products must be added 
rice, maize, sweet potatoes, taro, banana, mango, du- 
rian, pawpaw and citron. But even this enumeration 
gives but a faint idea of the variety and extent of 'ts 
natural treasures, 

CLIMATE. 

Its climate is well adapted to the growth of so 
luxuriant a vegetation. Lying directly under the equa- 
tor, the island enjoys great equability of temperature, 



I02 THE ISLAND WORLD 

the thermometer seldom falling below 76 deg. or rising 
above 93 deg. The constant rains brought up by the 
southeast monsoons counteract or mitigate the prevail- 
ing heat. In the highlands and mountain districts the 
climate is healthy, and the natives attain a considerable 
longevity ; but in the low ground along the coast, and 
in the neighborhood of the mangrove swamps, Euro- 
peans, at least, drag on a sickly existence, and malaria 
exercises its deadly ravages. 

The principal cities are Padang (the capital), Ben- 
coolen and Palambang. 



INHABITANTS. 

The inhabitants of Sumatra are mostly of the 
great Malayan family, but in the north they seem to 
have intercrossed with the Hindus, and are distin- 
guished by their strength, their stature and their fierce 
courage. The Chinese are numerous on the east 
coast. North of Menangkabu, where the pure Malays 
reside, live the Battahs or Batakhs, whose exact relation 
to the Malay it seems impossible to determine. They 
approximate, in many respects, to the Caucasian type, 
with fair complexion, brown or auburn hair, well-shaped 
lips and an ample forehead. All the natives of Sumat- 
ra, with the exception of some inland tribes, profess a 
modified Mohammedanism. 

In Sumatra we find about fifteen volcanoes, four 
of which — Dempo (10,440 feet), Indrapura (12,140), 
Talang (8,480), and Merapi (9,700 feet) — are of con- 
siderable importance ; the others do not exceed six or 
seven thousand feet in elevation. 

(Notes from Adams's Eastern Archipelago.) 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN /*)j 

SINGAPORE. 

This little island, located between latitude i deg. 
and I deg. 32 min. north, and longitude 103 deg. 30 
min. and 104 deg. 10 min. east, has long been cele- 
brated for its many valuable products, being more 
widely known than almost any other island in the East. 
Situated at the eastern extremity of the Straits of Mal- 
lacca, it has long formed the distributing point for the 
products of these regions. 

The town of Singapore has about 100,000 inhab- 
itants — Malays, Hindoos and Chinese — and is located 
a mile or so back from the straits, in the mouth of a 
river ; the freight to and from the town being handled 
by lighters. 

The island itself has an area of about 220 square 
miles, and is surrounded by about fifty small islets, of 
no great commercial importance in the past or present 
as distributing points, yet the fisheries, the turtle, tor- 
toise and beche de mer, found on some of these little des- 
ert spots, are considerable. The whole area, including 
the islets, may be estimated at 400 square miles. The 
British hoisted their flag over Singapore in 18 19, but it 
was not till 1 824, when the main island, with the adjoining 
isles located within ten miles of the shores of Singa- 
pore, were ceded to the East India Company by the 
Malayan princes, that Singapore sprang into commer- 
cial importance. 

The Straits of Mallacca narrow down at one point 
to a quarter of a mile in width between the island and 
the Malayan Peninsula. In some respects this is un- 
fortunate for the inhabitants of Singapore, as one of 
the favorite methods of the tiger, the great man-eater 
of the East Indies, is to swim this channel from the 



I04 THE ISLAND WORLD 

mainland and make a meal off of a native. It has been 
estimated that Singapore loses one inhabitant a day in 
supplying this demand. 

CELEBES. 

Between the parallels of latitude i deg. 45 min. 
north and 5 deg. 52 min. south, and the meridians of 
longitude 118 deg. 45 min. and 125 deg. 17 min. east, 
lies an island of the most extraordinary configuration, 
which some writers compare to a tarantula spider, oth- 
ers to a couple of horse-shoes joined at the fore parts. 
Neither comparison is very accurate. It consists of 
four long peninsulas — the largest being the northern- 
most — of which two are directed eastward, with a deep 
gulf between them (the Tomini Gulf), and two others 
southward, with the Boni Gulf separating them from 
each other, while the first of the two is separated from 
the second of the other two by the Tolo Gulf These 
four peninsulas project from a narrow neck of land 
which runs due north and south. 

The peninsula of Menado, the first of the four 
peninsulas, sweeps north, then east, and lastly north- 
east, with a length of 400 miles and a breadth of 1 2 to 
60 miles. That of Bulante, east, is 160 miles long and 
from 30 to 95 miles broad ; the southeast peninsula is 
about 150 miles by 30 to 90 miles ; and the southwest 
(that of Macassar) forms a tolerably regular parallelo- 
gram, 200 miles long and 65 miles broad. They are 
all formed of mountain masses, and describe a kind of 
backbone, 150 miles long and 105 miles broad. 

The Gulf Tomini or Gorontala, on the northeast, 
is 240 miles long, and from 55 miles at its mouth it 
broadens, as it strikes inland, to fully 100 miles ; that 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN los 

of Tomalki, or Tolo, on the east, is of ample dimensions 
at its mouth, but narrows towards its upper extremity ; 
and thai of Macassar or Boni, on the south, is proba- 
bly upwards of 200 miles in length, with a width vary- 
ing from 35 to 80 miles. 

Apart from these conspicuous indentations, the 
coast line is broken up by numerous bays, such as 
those of Meuado, Amoorang, Kwandang and Tontoli, 
on the north ; Palos and Panepane on the west, and 
Bulante, Tolowa, Nipa-Nipa and Staring on the east. 

To sum up, we have an island of Celebes, 150 
miles long and 105 miles broad, throwing off four pe- 
ninsulas of varying magnitude ; the superficial area of 
the whole island being estimated at 71,791 squared 
miles. 

We might conjecture that an island so exposed 
to the sea breezes would be visited by abundant mois- 
ture, and being included In the tropic zone, and imme- 
diately under the equator, would necessarily present a 
vegetation of remarkable richness and variety. Such, 
Indeed, Is the case, and Celebes has fair claims to be 
reg^arded as the loveliest and most bounteous of all 
the Islands of the Eastern Archipelago. Its scenery 
combines every charm that can gratify an artist or in- 
spire a poet ; it has the immense forests of Corneo and 
the meadows and vales of England ; the exuberant 
wealth of the tropics, and the gentleness and grace 
that distinguish the regions of the temperate zone. 

Broad rivers, lofty heights, far-spreading woods, 
deep, bowery hollows, Immense breadths of fragrant 
greensward — It has all these, mingled with rare and 
beautiful forms of vegetation, and enlivened by glori- 
ous displays of color, which give to each bright, strange 
landscape an Individuality of its own. To all this add 



io6 THE ISLAND WORLD 

a. fresh and healthy climate, which neither enfeebles the 
mind nor undermines the physical health, and it may 
be conceded that Celebes is an enchanted land. 

(Adams's Eastern Archipelago.) 



SANGIR GROUP. 

North of Celebes, between latitude 2 deg. and 4 
deg., is the Sanglr group, about fifty in number, with 
an area of 1,500 square miles, and a population of 
30,000. Like many of the islands and groups in these 
seas, they are afflicted with the eruptic volcano, whose 
destructive ravages are to be seen on every hand. At 
Great Sangir, the largest island of the group, having 
an area of some 300 square miles, we find, in the 
northwest portion, the active volcano of Abu. In 
March, 1.856, a fearful outburst took place here ; the 
burnincr lava, boillnpf water, scoria and ashes laid 
waste the surrounding country, destroying towns and 
villages, sweeping over the fine plantations, leaving 
all within reach a vast, burning, smoking waste. 

If this were all to relate of this eruption, It could 
be passed over with barely a glance ; but when the sad 
fate of three thousand people, who lost their lives, 
caught in the burning lava or in floods of boiling water, 
or smothered in clouds of sulphurous smoke and ashes, 
is added, It darkens the history of these island regions 
like a funeral pall. 

This island group produces nearly all of the trop- 
ical products in the greatest abundance. With a fer- 
tile soil, made beautiful by an Industrious people, they 
appear like gems dotting the southern seas. But. like 
the neighboring isles, they lie over the track of the 
great eruptic fire-belt, whose terrible outbursts too fre- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN Toy 

quently devastate the lands and convulse the founda- 
tions of the deep. 



MOLLUCCA ISLANDS. 

The name Molluccas Is employed in a restricted, 
and also in a comprehensive or general sense. It is 
applied, in the first place, to the Royal Islands, lying 
off the western coast of Gilolo, and washed by the 
Molluccas Passage, which separates Gilolo from Cele- 
bes. In a wider sense, the name Molluccas is applied 
to all the islands or groups of islands lying between 
Celebes and New Guinea. They are commonly divi- 
ded, according to the three residencies, into the Ter- 
nate, Amboyna and Banda groups, which contain, re- 
spectively, the following principal islands : 

1. The Ternate Islands, including the Molluccas 
proper — comprehending Ternate, Gilolo, Batchian, 
Obi, Mortui, and the Kaiva Islands ; 

2. The Amboyna Islands, including Amboyna, 
Ceram, Bouru, Goram, Amblau, and some smaller 
isles ; and 

3. The Banda Islands, including Great Banda or 
'Luthoir, Banda Neira, Pulo Run, Pulo Ai, Goenong 
Api, Rosengyn, Kapal, Pisang, Spethau and Vronwen. 

These numerous islands are all mountainous and 
mostly volcanic, and their forms of animal and vege- 
table life exhibit but few and unimportant differences. 
They may, therefore, be properly comprehended un- 
der the one general tide of the Molluccas. 

We shall visit them in the following order: Banda 
and adjacent islands; Amboyna, Ceram, Bouru, Go- 
ram; and Ternate, Gilolo, Batchian and adjacent 
islands. The inhabitants are Molluccan-Malays, and 



io8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

their religion is principally Mohammedan. * * * 
So much for the position of these charming islands, 
which escaping the dry winds that blow over the 
Australian deserts, are remarkable for their fresh 
greenery and the plentifulness of their vegetation. 

HISTORY. 

They were first made known to Europeans by the 
Portuguese navigator, D'Abreu, but the Chinese 
and Arabs, and probably the Hindoos, had long pre- 
viously included them in the range of their commer- 
cial enterprise. D'Abreu, according to the chron- 
icler, DeBarros, had the assistance of Javanese and 
Malay pilots who had made the voyage ; and DeBarros 
adds, that every year Javanese and Malays repaired 
to Lulotain (that is. Great Banda) to load cloves, nut- 
megs and mace, for it lay in the latitudes most easily 
navigated, and where ships were most secure, and as 
the cloves of the Molluccas are brought thither by 
vessels belonging to those islands, it was unnecessary 
to go to the latter for the much prized spices. In the 
five islands, says DeBarros, namely, Louthoir, Re- 
sengyn, Pulo Ai, Pulo Run and Banda Neira, grow 
all the nutmegs consumed in every part of the world. 
He gives the then population as 15,000 — a \^xy much 
larger number than at present, and further says of 
them : The people of these islands are robust, with 
lank hair and a tawny complexion, and are of the 
worst repute in these regions. They follow the 
sect of Mohammed, and are much addicted to trade, 
their women performing the labors of the field. 
They have neither king nor lord, and all their 
government depends on the advice of their elders, 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 109 

and as these are often at variance, they quarrel 
among themselves. 

NUTMEG. 

The land has no other export than the nutmeg. 
This tree is in such abundance that the land is full 
of it, without being planted by any one, for the earth 
yields without culture. The forests which produce it 
belong to no one by inheritance, but to the people in 
common. 

For about a century the Portuguese monopolized 
the commerce of these islands, and throughout this 
period maintained a friendly intercourse with the na- 
tives. In 1609 the Dutch, however, resolved to an- 
nex them to their Eastern possessions, and invaded 
Great Banda with a force of 700 soldiers, but falling 
into ambuscade, were compelled to retreat w^ith con- 
siderable loss. They then began a war of extermina- 
tion, which was prolonged for eighteen years, and 
brought to a successful issue only through the efforts 
of a large expedition from Java, commanded by the 
Governor-General in person. In this prolonged strug- 
ofle, the natives, who fougfht with ereat couraofe and 
resolution, lost 3,000 killed and 1,000 prisoners. The 
survivors fled to the neighboring islands, where they 
were merged in the general mass, so that scarcely 
a vestige of their language or customs is now known 
to exist 

LOUTHOIR. 

Of the little island group of Louthoir, it is said 
that beneath the shade of the lofty kanary trees, de- 
riving their nourishment from the thin but warm vol- 
canic soil, and fed by the constant moisture, the hand- 



no THE ISLAND WORLD 

some glossy-leaved nutmeg, trees, twenty to thirty feet 
high^ line the roads and bloom in the gardens and 
spread over all the open places. They are very fair 
to look upon, with their thick-spreading branches, the 
tallest sprays of which are fifty feet high. The 
flowers are small and yellowish. The fruit, before 
it is fully ripe, resembles a peach that has not yet 
been tinted with red ; but this is only the epicarp, or 
outer rind, which is of a tough fieshy consistence, 
and on maturing splits open into two equal parts, 
revealing a spherical, polished, dark-brown nut, en- 
veloped in crimson mace. In this stage it may be 
fairly described as the most beautiful fruit in the cornu- 
copia of Pomona. 

It is now picked by means of a small basket fas- 
tened to the end a long bamboo. The epicarp being 
removed, the mace is carefully taken off and dried in 
the sun, which changes its bright crimson to an ob- 
scure yellow. It is then ready to be packed in cakes 
and shipped to market. Next the nuts are spread on 
a shallow tray of open basket-work, and exposed for 
a period of three months to the action of a slow fire. 
By the end of that time the actual genuine nutmeg 
has so shrunken that it rattles in its dark-brown shell. 
The shell is broken, and the nutmegs after being 
sorted, are packed in large casks of teak-wood, 
which are duly branded with the year in which the 
fruit was gathered and the name of the plantation 
where it was grown. 

AMBOYNA. 

Mountains, hills, rocks, forests, noisy burns and 
rippling brooks, with well wooded valleys nmning in 
among the highlands and low fertile country stretch- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN iii 

ing along the shore. Such is the general character 
of Amboyna. It Is not one of the fairest or richest 
islands of the Archipelago ; much of its surface is 
bare and barren, and it presents but little of that ex- 
uberant vegetation which we are accustomed to asso- 
ciate with the tropics. In fact, it owes its celebrity 
and its wealth to one special vegetable product — the 
clove-tree — (caryophyllus Aromaticus). Such being 
the case, and groves of clove-trees, with their bright 
green verdure, being the pleasantest objects in the 
island, before we go further it will be well for us to 
devote some attention to so remarkable a source of 
wealth. 

CLOVE. 

We first hear of cloves in Europe about a. d. 
175-180, in the reign of the Emperor Aurelian, when 
they are mentioned as imported into Alexandria from 
India — the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea forming 
then as now the great highway along which flowed 
the traffic of the East. They were carried by the 
Javanese and Malays from the Molluccas to the 
peninsula of Mallacca ; thence the Telingas, or 
Klings, transported them to Calicut, the once famous 
capital of Malibar. From Calicut they passed to the 
western shores of India, and crossing the Arabian Sea, 
found their way up the Red Sea to the Egyptian port. 

The native name for this fruit is chenki, which 
may be a corruption of the Chinese thetig-ki, or 
" sweet smelling nails." The resemblance to a nail 
has also suggested the Dutch name, krind-nagel, or 
"hub-nail" (the trees are nagclcn-boomen, or "nail- 
trees"), and the Spanish clavos (Latin claznis, a nail), 
whence comes our English "clove." 



JI2 THE ISLAND WORLD 

The clove tree belongs to the order of Myrtles, 
which includes the guava, pomegranate and the rose- 
apple. Its topmost branches are usually forty or fifty 
feet from the ground, and the full-grown trunk meas- 
ures eight to ten inches in diameter. It was originally 
confined, says Bickmore, to the five islands off the 
west coast of Gilolo, which then comprised the whole 
group known as the Molluccas — a name that has 
since been extended to Bouru, Amboyna and the 
other islands off the south coast of Ceram, where the 
clove has been introduced and cultivated within a 
comparatively late period. On these five islands it 
begins to bear in its seventh or eighth year, and 
sometimes continues to yield until it has reached an 
age of nearlg one hundred and fifty years ; the trees, 
therefore, are of very different sizes. Here at Am- 
boyna it is not expected to bear fruit before its twelfth 
or fifteenth year, and to cease yielding when it is 
seventy-five years old. 

A quaint description of this celebrated tree is 
given by Pigafetta, who accompanied Magellan in his 
voyage around the world: It attains a pretty con- 
siderable heiorht, and its trunk is about as laro-e as a 
man's body, varying more or less according to its 
age. Its branches extend very wide about the middle 
of the trunk, but at the summit terminate in a pyra- 
mid. Its leaf resembles that of the laurel, and the 
bark is of an olive color. The cloves grow at the 
end of small branches, in clusters of from ten to 
twenty, and the tree, according to the season, sends 
forth more on one side than the other. The cloves 
at first are white, as tliey ripen they become more 
reddish, and blacken as they dry. '=' "•''' '^ 

To this we may add that the buds when young 




NATIVE LUXURY IN THE MOLUCCAS. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 113 

arc white, afterwards they change to a Hght green, 
and finally to a bright red, when they must at once 
he gathered, which is done by picking them by 
hand, or beating them off wdth bamboos, so that they 
drop in showers on cloths spread beneath the trees. 
When they have been dried in the sun — a process 
which changes them from red to black — they are 
ready for market. The gathering seasons are from 
June to December. The soil best adapted to the tree 
seems a warm, loose, sandy loam. 

CHOCOLATE BEAN. 

Another of the valuable products of this group, 
as others of the Eastern Archipelago, is the cacao 
theobroTita, the chocolate bean of commerce. It is not 
native here, but is one of the few things which the 
Orient has borrowed from the West. The Span- 
iards discovered it in Mexico, and transplanted it to 
their settlements in South America and the West 
Indies. Thence it traveled to the Molluccas. It is 
also cultivated in Guinea and Brazil. 

The cacao tree seldom exceeds twenty feet in 
height. Its leaves are large, oblong and pointed ; its 
flowers hang in pale red clusters, not only from its 
branches, but also from its trunk and roots. Hence 
a cacao plantation has a singular and striking appear- 
ance, as Humboldt did not fail to notice. Never, he 
says, shall I forget the profound impression made 
on my mind by the luxuriance of tropical vegetation 
when I first saw a cacao garden. After a damp night, 
large blossoms of the theobroma ('* drink for gods!") 
issue from the root a considerable distance from the 
trunk, emerging from the deep black mold. A more 



JI4 THE ISLAND WORLD 

striking example of the expansive powers of life could 
hardly be met with in organic nature. 

The fruits are large, oval-pointed pods, about five 
or six inches long, and divided into five lobes or comr 
partments, containing from twenty to forty seeds, the 
cacao of commerce, enveloped in a white pithy sub- 
stance. 

In localities well sheltered from the wind the 
grower sows his seeds. In two years the plant at- 
tains a height of three feet, and throws off numerous 
branches, all of which are removed, with the excep- 
tion of four or five. In the third year the fruits ap- 
pear, but the tree does not yield fully until six or 
seven years old, after which it produces abundant 
crops for upwards of two decades. 

When the pods are first picked they are remarka- 
ble for a peculiar pungency, which can be converted 
into the highly valued aromatic priaciple only by a 
process of fermentation. Therefore they are thrown 
into pits, covered with a thin layer of sand, stirred at 
intervals, and allowed to remain for three or four 
days. After which they are taken out, cleaned, dried 
in the sun, packed in cases or sacks, and dispatched 
to the market. They are best known in Europe in the 
form of chocolate, being roasted, ground into a smooth 
paste and flavored with vanilla or other spices. 

The pineapple, too, is found in this, as well as on 
the islands of adjacent groups. 

SAGO PALM. 

At Ceram Island, the largest of the Molluccas, 
one of the chief natural productions is the sago palm, 
known in botany as the Sagus Lcuvis and Sagus Rian- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN us 

phiL It is not only more plentiful here than in any of 
the adjoining" islands, but attains to greater perfection. 
It grows to the height of one hundred feet, and a sin- 
gle tree will sometimes yield twelve hundred pounds 
of starch, instead of four hundred pounds, as at Am- 
boyna. The tree, in its early stage, is very slow of 
growth, but when it has once formed its stem it shoots 
up rapidly, and assumes its crown of far-spreading fo- 
liage and colossal efflorescence. Before the flower 
ripens into fruit the tree must be felled, as otherwise 
the farina which man uses for his food would be ex- 
hausted. 

The sago, which forms so important an article of 
commerce, is prepared from the soft inner portion of 
the trunk, the latter being cut into pieces about two 
feet long, w^hich are then split in half, and the soft sub- 
stance scooped out and pounded in water till the 
starchy matter separates, when it is drained off with 
the water, allowed to settle, and afterwards purified by 
washing. The substance thus obtained is sago meal ; 
but before being exported to the European markets, it 
is made into pearl sago by a Chinese process carried 
on at Singapore. The rough meal is subjected to 
repeated washings and strainings, then spread out to 
dry, and broken into small pieces, which, when suffi- 
ciently hard, are pounded and sifted until they are 
tolerably uniform in size. Small quantities, finally, are 
placed in a large bag, which is suspended from the 
ceiling, and shaken backwards and forwards for about 
ten minutes, until the sago becomes pearled or granu- 
lated, after which it is- thoroughly dried and packed for 
exportation. 

(Adams's Eastern Archipelago; Bickmore's Travels in; Wallace: 
Malay Archipelago.) 



ii6 THE ISLAND WORLD 



CHAPTER VIII. 



I8I<AJK»S 



The winds are aw'd, nor dare to breathe aloud, 
The air seems never to have borne a cloud, 

Save where volcanoes send to heaven their curl'd 
And solemn smokes, like altars of the world, 

Edward C. Pincknev. 

NEW GUINEA. 

NEXT to Australia in size, probably — lying just to 
the north, and separated from it at one point by 
the narrow Straits of Torres — is New Guinea. It 
was discovered in 1 5 1 1 by Antonia d' Albreu and 
Francisco Serram. The population is altogether na- 
tive, and numbers fully 500,000. The area is about 
300,000 square miles. 

The interior is wholly unknown to Europeans, 
and our acquaintance even with the coast line cannot 
be described as complete. . The island is, however, 
most irregular in form. On the west a deep basin, 
called Geelvink Bay, sweeping inland from the north, 
almost meets the Gulf of McClure, entering from the 
west, and so forms a bold and extensive peninsula 
connected with the mainland by a very narrow isthmus. 

There is reason to believe that the island is verv 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 117 

mountainous, with deep, well-wooded valleys breaking 
up the various chains, and with meadow lands extend- 
ing from the base of the mountains to the sea. The 
summits of the southern peninsula attain a far loftier 
elevation than those of Australia. Mount Owen Stan- 
ley, for instance, is 13,205 feet high, and Mount Obru 
is 10,200 feet. A magnificent chain follows the line 
of the north coast with rriuch faithfulness, forming the 
ranges of the Cyclops, which terminate in the Island 
of Jobi; and further west, of the Arfak and Amberba- 
kin, with a maximum height of about 9,000 to 9,500 
feet. On the southwest the limestone formation crops 
up in terraced heights, which rise one above another 
like the stages of an amphitheatre, until they mount 
above the snow line ; the warm and humid forests of 
the tropics lying at their base, their crests uprearing 
the icy, snowy pinnacles of an Arctic world. The 
Snow Mountains are 15,400 feet above the sea-level. 

Valley and plain and hill, ravine and mountain 
steep, all are clothed with a vegetation that almost de- 
fies description by its luxuriance and variety. When 
the island has been thoroughly explored, we may ex- 
pect to hear that it is not inferior to Java or Borneo in 
fertility of soil. It is certain that it produces all the 
richest of fruits and the most valuable growths of trop- 
ical nature. In the lowlands, bread-fruit, cocoanut, 
banana, sago, betel, orange and lemon, and a multitude 
of other luxuries ; in the higher grounds, magnificent 
forest trees, the kanary, the masool, the wild nutmeg, 
ebony and iron wood. Sugar cane, tobacco and rice 
yield abundant crops ; maize and yams are also culti- 
vated, and among the glories of the forest is the cam- 
phor tree. 

Nor is the usual parasitical exuberance wanting ; 



ii8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

epiphytous plants overarch the wooded glades, and 
creepers of every description hang in festoons from 
bough to bough. Among the wealth of leaf and bloom 
the paradise birds build their sequestered nests, and 
the echoes ring with the shrill cries of parrots and lo- 
ries, and the murmurs of carpophagous pigeons. 

Animal life is not so abundant as vegetable. The 
mammals are few in number, and most of them are 
marsupials of the Australian type ; though New Guinea 
possesses some indigenous species of kangaroos, and 
more particularly two species which are strictly arborial 
in their habits. Wild swine are plentiful, as also the 
wood-cat. Of birds, about sixty species have been 
particularized. Insects astonish by their numbers, and 
dazzle by their brilliancy of coloring. The rivers swarm 
with fish, and so do the surrounding seas. 

The great island is not alone in her grandeur, for 
along her shores, and no great distance from the main 
land, there are at least one hundred islands. The area 
of these would probably reach 10,000 square miles, 
with a population of over 20,000 people. The phys- 
ical features, as well as products, are similar to those 
of New Guinea. 

Curiously, the main island, with those lying close 
to it, if we except a very few of the Molluccas, are the 
homes of that most beautiful of birds, the Bird of Par- 
adise {Paradisaida^). They are not to be found on 
any of the other islands. Of the Paradisse, twenty 
species are already known ; their beautiful plumage 
being much sought after to supply the fashionable 
markets of the world. 

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS. 

About two hundred miles to the northeast of 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 119 

Papua are the Admiralty group, about thirty in num- 
ber, with something over 1,000 square miles of area, 
and a population of 25,000. 

They are not a prominent group in a topograph- 
ical sense, lying but a hundred feet or so above the 
sea level ; although for fertility and indigenous tropi- 
cal products, they rival some of the more famed 
islands. The inhabitants are very similar to those of 
New Guinea. 

Basko, or Admiralty Island, is the principal in the 
group, having an area of about 450 square miles. 

They were first discovered by the Dutch navi- 
gator Cornelius Schooten, in 161 6, and were afterwards 
re-discovered by Phillip Carteret, in 1767, who located 
them definitely on the charts, and gave them the name 
they bear to-day. 

NEW IRELAND. 

South by east from the Admiralty group, and 
northeast from Papua, we have New Ireland and New 
Britain. 

There are some six islands in the former group, 
New Ireland being the only one requiring any descrip- 
tion here. It is about two hundred miles long by fif- 
teen wide, with some hilly ranges rising to a height of 
2,000 feet. The island is well wooded and watered, 
and said to be healthy in the extreme. Tropical fruits 
are to be found in great abundance ; while the forests 
that cover the sloping hills from valley to summit, 
abound in fancy woods of great commercial value. 
There are great numbers of tortoise taken here, whose 
shell is of the most beautiful and valued kind. The 
inhabitants, like all the islands around New Guinea, 
excepting always Great Australia, are of the woolly- 



I20 THE ISLAND WORLD 

headed negro type, and may be set down at 16,000 in 
number, the whole group giving an area of 4,300 
square miles. 

NEW BRITAIN. 

Southwest from New Ireland, not many miles 
away, lies the New Britain group, inhabited by 20,000 
people, and having an area of 10,500 square miles, 
within the Hmits of the eight islands. They have the 
same physical features as New Ireland, w^th a richness 
of tropical vegetation unsurpassed in these latitudes. 
The natives are of the Papuan type, uncivilized and 
treacherous in the extreme. The products, are like 
those of the islands in the surrounding seas. This 
group, like many others, needs but to be touched by 
the magic wand of enterprise and civilization to place 
them among the important islands of the world. 

LOUISADE ARCHIPELAGO. 

Southeast from Papua, stretched over 350 miles 
of the sea, the Louisade Archipelago lies, a long, low^ 
group, with scarcely any prominence in the way of hills 
and mountains. Little is known of the value of the 
products of these islands, the fierce and treacherous 
disposition of the natives preventing close commercial 
relations. As far as known, the area of the group 
does not exceed 1,500 square miles; while it is safe to 
estimate the population at 5,000. The islands have 
every appearance of being very fertile, tropical verdure 
spreading over the cluster on every hand. The na- 
tives are negritos of the worst type. 

PIIILLIPPINE ISLANDS. 

This remarkable group of islands, numbering over 
1,200, with an area of about 150,000 square miles, and 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 121 

a population of 5,000,000, is said to have been discov- 
ered by Magellan in 1521. This, like many of the 
modern discoveries, and credited to particular discov- 
erers, will not bear the test of research ; as Marco 
Polo sailed through the group as early as the thirteenth 
century. 

For a description of this great island cluster, with 
some of their products, I am indebted to ''Adams' 
Eastern Archisfelaofo." and the writino^s of that ofreat 
navigator and bold buccaneer, William Dampier. 

These islands present so many interesting and 
attractive features, that we shall attempt a somewhat 
detailed account, beginning with a general view of 
their prominent characteristics, glancing at the history 
of their discovery by Europeans, and concluding v/ith 
some sketches of their scenery, and leading forms of 
animal and vegetable life. 

The principal islands are Luzon, Mindanao, Min- 
doro, Samar, Panay, Leyte, Zebu, Negros, Bohol and 
Alawan. The whole cluster is divided into groups ; 
the Sooloos, Bissayas, Pasay, Bashu and Babwyan be- 
ing the most important. 

TOPOGRAPHICAL. 

The larger islands of the group appear to produce 
a powerful impression on the imagination of the voya- 
ger, to judge from the many glowing pictures contained 
in various narratives. Their coast line is bold and ir- 
regular, broken up by numerous romantic headlands, 
the declivities of which are ofreen with abundant foli- 
age ; by long, narrow tongues of land, with forest 
growth extending to the very margin of the sea ; by 
broad bays, each capable of accommodating an imperial 



J22> THE ISLAND WORLD 

fleet ; and narrow inlets and creeks, so embowered in 
shade that large ships might harbor in them and not 
be discovered- by a passing enemy. Then, from the 
bright and picturesque shore, the ground rises inland 
with a continual ascent, until the undulating plains are 
succeeded by low ranges of wooded hills, and these 
by lofty ranges, which here and there culminate in 
magnificent mountain peaks. In and among these 
ranges, which are irregular in their direction, and 
throw off numerous short chains and spurs, lie slopes 
of perennial verdure, and valleys so gifted with the 
bounties of nature that they surpass the dreams of the 
Arcadian poets. Here, too, are broad, deep lakes, in 
their general features reminding the traveler of the 
charming- basins of the Scottish Highlands ; while many 
streams flow through the verdurous glens to unite in 
ample rivers, which, with full channels, descend to the 
sea. 

The vegetation of the Phillippines is among the 
richest of tropical chmes. A fertile soil is assisted by 
a genial climate. Droughts are unknown ; the tropical 
heats are tempered by abundant moisture and by the 
constant alternation of the land and sea breezes. In 
the western portions of the group, the rainy season 
begins in June and ends in September; in the east it 
begins in October and ends in January; and the rains 
are then so heavy and so continuous that the low 
grounds are converted into extensive lakes. 

This inundation, however, increases the fertility 
of the soil and favors the growth of exuberant crops. 
It may almost be said that the only misfortune to which 
the islands are liable — the only shade on a picture 
which astonishes us by its splendor — is the frequency 
and severity of their earthquakes. They form a part 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 123 

of the great volcanic chain to which, in describing the 
Eastern Archipelago, we have so often found it neces- 
sary to allude ; and they possess several volcanoes, 
both active and extinct — among the most important of 
which is that of Taal. Manilla, the capital of Luzon, 
and the chief town of the group, was ruined by a con- 
vulsion which broke out on the evening of the i(\ of 
June, 1863. The cathedral, with its noble dome, was 
shattered into ruins by a shock which occurred while 
the priests were chanting vespers. The Viceroy's pal- 
ace was destroyed, and the British consulate. Not 
one of the churches escaped, and the only one left 
standing (that of Binondo) was rent from roof to base- 
ment. Nearly two thousand persons perished. 

MINERALS. 

The Phillippines are not only rich in vegetation, 
but abound in subterranean treasures. The sands of 
their rivers yield no inconsiderable quantities of gold- 
dust. All the palaces of earth might be rebuilt from 
their extensive quarries of marble and limestone. The 
coal fields cover a wide area and produce an excellent 
fuel. Iron — the wealth of strong and powerful nations 
— and copper of the best quality, are found in all the 
mountain ranges. Sulphur, magnesia, quicksilver, 
Vermillion, saltpetre and alum are also plentiful. So 
vast, indeed, are the resources of the Phillippines, that 
only an able government is needed to give them the 
position of a wealthy, influential and prosperous com- 
mercial state. But the colonial administration of Spain 
has never been marked by either vigor or sagacity ; 
and though the recent development of commerce has 
been considerable, it is by no means proportionate to 
the capabilities of these beautiful islands. 



124 THE ISLAND WORLD 

The forest trees which cover the valley slopes and 
ascend the mountain sides are very valuable. Among 
the plants cultivated for use, we find the gornuti or 
cabonegro palm, the abuca, the cocoa and other palms, 
the pineapple, the cacao tree, cotton and coffee, the 
tamarind, indigo and sugar-cane. Tobacco is largely 
grown, and the Manilla cigars are scarcely less cele- 
brated than those of Havana. Rice is raised in im- 
mense quantities, and forms a principal article of trade ; 
and the vegetable wealth of the group also includes 
cassia, cloves, reel and black pepper, vanilla, cinnamon, 
nutmegs, maize, wheat, yams, the sweet potato, and a 
variety of the most delicious fruits on which the ripen- 
ing sunshine of the tropics falls. 

ANIMALS. 

Animal life is neither less various nor less exube- 
rant. The horses of the Phillippines are small, but 
strong and lively ; the deer supply a capital venison ; 
hogs, goats, sheep, buffaloes and oxen are bred by the 
agriculturist ; foxes and gazelles frequent the valleys ; 
monkeys, squirrels, wildcats, and the bagua, a kind of 
flying cat, the woods. The jungles are enlivened by 
the bright plumage of humming birds, parrots, and the 
rhinoceros bird. The sea swallow builds her edible 
nest in the hollows and caves of the rocky coasts. The 
forests swarm with eagles, falcons, herons, pigeons, 
game cocks, quails, and the lakes with aquatic birds. 
Pools and rivers teem with fish ; but here an unplea- 
sant fact obtrudes itself upon us — crocodiles are nu- 
merous. Serpents lurk in the dense growth of the 
forests ; leeches swarm in the swampy lowlands ; rep- 
tiles abound, and insect life displays itself with a luxu- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 12s 

riance which both native and stranger find good cause 
to lament. '•' '•' * 

We have spoken of the forest trees. They at- 
tract attention by their enormous bulk and by their 
huge canopies of spreading foliage. They are bound 
together by the remarkable bush-rope or palaseru, 
which erovvs in festoons several hundred feet in leno^th ; 
while a whole world of epiphytous plants, parasites, 
creepers, climbers and liaries find nourishment in their 
bark, or support on their stalwart arms, and spread 
everywhere such a tangle of leaf and stem and blossom, 
that the traveler can only force his way into the forest 
depths, axe in hand. 

INHABITANTS. 

The industrial occupations of the natives include a 
very ingenious method of working in horn ; the manu- 
facture of orold and silver chains ; of cioar cases, and 
fine hats in various vegetable fibres ; of beautifully 
colored mats, embroidered with gold and silver ; the 
dressing and varnishing of leather; ship-building and 
coach-building. The manufacture of cigars gives em- 
ployment to a large number of people. The cordage 
of the Phillippines is held in good repute. The textile 
fabrics are said to be fifty-two in number, from the 
delicate and costly shawls and handkerchiefs, made 
from the. fibre of pine-apple leaves, called pinas, and 
sold at the rate of one or two ounces of gold a piece, 
down to a coarse cotton and stout sacking, wrought 
from the fibres of the abaca and gornuti palms. 

We have nearly completed our general view of 
islands, but a few details seem wanting for the full in- 
formation of the reader. The two principal races are 
the Tagals and Bisayers, who inhabit the towns, vil- 



J26 THE ISLAND WORLD 

lages, and cultivated lowlands, and are mostly Roman 
Catholics, though a considerable number remain faith- 
ful to the creed of Mohammed. In the mountainous 
interior we find what is probably the original race, the 
Oceanic Negroes, a black -complexioned, negroish 
people, closely resembling in their persons and cus- 
toms the Papuan Alfoories. They are chiefly heathens, 
practicing a wild and crude idolatry, or otherwise ob- 
serving no religious form at all, though not free from 
degrading superstitions. Among the industrial popu- 
lation a foremost place must be given to the Chinese 
immigrantSj who, however, do not settle permanently 
in the islands ; while the Mestizos, or half-breeds, who 
are mostly of Chinese fathers and native mothers, ex- 
hibit a remarkable degree of activity, enterprise and 
industry. Spaniards are few in this Spanish colony, 
except in the military and naval service. 

DAMPIER. 

Dampier visited these islands in 1686, as pilot on 
board the Cygnet, a privateer, or buccaneering vessel, 
commanded by Captain Swan. They were kindly re- 
ceived by the natives, though their piratical character 
seems to have been suspected. They obtained a sup- 
ply of fresh provisions ; and Dampier for the first time 
saw the bread-fruit tree, the staff of life to so many of 
the Polynesian tribes. At the flying proas, or sailing 
canoes of the natives, the visitors were greatly aston- 
ished. They were admirably built, and so swift that 
Dampier was persuaded that one of them would sail 
twenty-four miles an hour; and another had accom- 
plished the distance between Guahan and Manilla, or 
400 leagues, in four days. ' 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN T27 

Dampier describes the trees of Mindanao with 
some degree of particularity. In his time they were 
curiosities, and scarcely known to Europeans, even by 
repute ; but now we are all familiar with the properties 
of the bread-fruit and the cocoa-nut, the nutmeg and 
the banana, the durian and the plantain. 

HIS ACCOUNT OF THE PLANTAIN. 

The plantain he boldly terms the king of all fruit. 
He will brook no rivals near its throne, not even the 
cocoanut palm, gracefulest of all vegetable wonders, 
which wins the admiration of every cultivated eye 
with its slender, shapely column and lifted crown of 
plumes. The tree that bears the plantain is, he says, 
about three feet or three and a half feet around and 
ten or twelve feet high. It is not raised from seed, 
but from the roots of old trees of the same kind. If 
these young suckers are taken out of the ground and 
planted in another place they will not fructify for 
fifteen months, but if allowed to remain in their own 
soil they will fructify in twelve. As soon as the fruit 
is ripe the tree decays, but several young ones are 
ready to take its place. On first emerging from the 
ground it springs up with two leaves, and by the time 
it is a foot in height two more spring up inside the 
first couple, and shortly afterwards two more within 
them; and so the brave work goes on. By the time 
it is a month old a small stem about the size of a 
man's arm is discernible, as well as eight or ten leaves, 
some of which are four or five feet high. The first 
leaves, however, are not more than twelve inches long 
and six broad ; the stem that bears them is no bio-jrer 
than a man's finger, but the leaves increase in size as 



128 THE ISLAND WORLD 

the tree increases in height. The old leaves spread 
off as the young- spring on the inside, and their tops 
droop downwards, being of a greater length and 
breadth in proportion as they are nearer to the roots. 
At last they decay and drop off, but the young leaves 
always blooming at the top preserve the green and 
flourishing aspect of the tree. '^' * ''^ 

Thus the body of the tree seems to be made up 
of many thick skins, growing one over another, and 
when it is full grown, out of the top springs a strong 
stem, harder in substance than any other part of the 
trunk. 

This stem shoots forth at the heart of the tree. 
is as big, says Dampier, and as long as a man's arm» 
and, all clustering around, grows the fruit — and such 
fruit ! The Spaniards give it the first place among the 
productions of Pomona as most conducive to life. It 
grows in a pod about six or seven inches long, and is 
of the size of a man's arm — a favorite comparison, 
we may observe, with Dampier. The pod, shell or 
rind is soft, and when ripe is as yellow as gold. The 
fruit within is no harder than butter in winter, and 
resembles good yellow butter in color. It is of a 
delicate taste, and melts in one's mouth like marma- 
lade. It is all pure pulp, without any seed, stone or 
kernel. Europeans when they settle in America 
learn to esteem it so highly that when they make a 
new plantation they usually begin with a good "plan- 
tain walk," as they call it, or a "field of plantains," 
and as their family increases, so do they enlarge 
their plantain walk, keeping one man purposely to 
l)rune the trees and gather the fruit as it reaches, 
maturity. For some, or other of the trees, are 
always bearing throughout the year, and frequently 




TEA PLANT OF JAPAN. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 129 

this Is the only food on which a whole family exists. 
Such, at least, is Dampier's statement; but accurate 
as he generally is, some exaggeration is surely mani- 
fest here. 

I have quoted thus far from the memoirs of Dam- 
pier, to show the style of writing, as well as the 
observing powers of the great buccaneer. Narrating 
in a period about two hundred years past, he writes 
on many subjects with a detail and accuracy truly 
astonishing. 

In those days, as well at the present time, the 
plantain and banana are often confounded as one 
and the same fruit. In reality the distinction is 
nearly as great as that between a pumpkin and a 
melon. And although belonging to the same botan- 
ical species, one is a delicious natural fruit while the 
other requires the culinary art to make it acceptable as 
a food. 

Manilla, on the island of Luzon, the capital city 
of the Phillippines, is in north latitude 14 deg. 36 
min., and east longitude 120 deg. 52 min. Inhabited 
by about 300,000 people, it has long been the princi- 
pal commercial port of the Spanish possessions in 
the Pacific. The exports of sugar are about 150,- 
000 tons per annum, with 50,000 tons of Manilla 
hemp and 100,000,000 cigars. In ihe manufacture 
of the latter, 10,000 women are employed, the factory 
covering a space of over six acres. 

TOBACCO. 

Nature, climate and locality have combined to 
make the islands of the Pacific favored lands for the 
extensive cultivation, preparation and export of to- 
bacco. 



ISO THE ISLAND WORLD 

Of the plant itself, it may be claimed as the Nico- 
tiana Tabaciim, indigenous to America, but cultivated 
now in nearly all parts of the world. Seeds of the 
plant were sent by Jean Nicot, in 1560, from Portugal, 
to Catherine de Medici. Nicot was the French am- 
bassador in that country, from whom the plant receives 
its botanical name. Its first introduction into Europe 
from the new world may be dated from the beginning 
of the sixteenth century. Its first introduction into 
England by Sir Walter Raleigh, from Virginia, oc- 
curred about 1586. Hayden ascribes it to Sir John 
Hawkins in 1565, while many others grant it to Raleigh 
and Sir Francis Drake. 

Baird, Humboldt, and many of the encyclopaedias, 
state its name to be derived from the Indian word 
tabacos, a name given by the Carribees to the pipe, in 
which they smoked the leaves of the plant. Baird 
says it is the common name of the species of herba- 
ceous, rarely-shrubby plants, of the genus Nicotiana, 
generally clothed with clammy hairs or down, and na- 
tives for the most part of the warmer portions of Amer- 
ica, a few growing also in the East. The species which 
yields most of the tobacco of commerce, is the com- 
mon Virginian or sweet-scented tobacco, extensively 
cultivated in the warmer portions of the United States. 

The claim for its first uses among the Chinese, 
Mongols, and the East Indians, says Mr. McCulloch. 
is, however, a very doubtful proposition. It seems 
sufficiently established that the tobacco plant was first 
brought from Brazil to India about the year 161 7, and 
it is most probable that it was thence carried to Siam, 
China, and other Eastern countries. The names given 
to it in all the languages of the East are obviously of 
European, or rather of American origin, a fact which 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN iji 

seems completely to negative the idea of Its being- in- 
digenous to the East. 

Where properly cultivated, picked and cured, the 
best qualities of *'01d Virginia" tobacco, for chewing 
or smoking, has no superior. That of Havana, for 
the manufacture of cigars alone, takes first place, but 
does not seem to have the requisite qualities that go 
to make either a palatable "fine cut" or "plug" chew- 
ing tobacco. 



132 THE ISLAND WORLD 



CHAPTER IX. 



ISI<A^D$$ 



And yonder by Nankin, behold ! 

The tower of porcelain, strange and old, 
Uplifting to the astonished skies 

Its nine-fold painted balconies, 
With balustrades of twining leaves. 

And roofs of tile, beneath whose eaves 
Hang porcelain bells that all the time 

Ring with a soft melodious chime ; 

Longfellow {Keranws.) 

ISLANDS OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 

\ BRIEF glance at some of the islands belonging- 
•nV^ to China may not prove uninteresting. They 
may be set down at about forty in number, with 
an area of 35,000 square miles and a population of 
4,500,000. Hainan, Formosa, and the islands of the 
Chusan Archipelago, are the most important. 

HAINAN. 

Hainan, in the China Sea, between 18 deg. and 
20 deg. north latitude, and between 108 deg. and 1 1 1 
deg. east longitude, has an area of 12,000 square miles 
and a population of 1,500,000. It is but fifteen miles 
from the mainland of China, the inhabitants being prin- 
cipally people of that country. The interior is very 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 133 

mountainous, and Is said to be a desolate, barren re- 
gion. The shore countr)^ however, is very fertile, and 
is cultivated with all the skill of the Chinese agricultu- 
rist. Unlike Formosa, there are many good harbors 
indenting its shores. The products of the land are 
similar to those already mentioned, ranging from the 
tropical to those of the more temperate climes. 



FORMOSA. 

Formosa, somewhat larger than Hainan, having 
an area of 15,000 square miles, lies between 21 deg. 
5S min. and 25 deg. 15 min. north latitude, and east 
longitude 120 deg. and 122 deg.; is separated from the 
mainland by a channel nearly ninety miles in width. 
The inhabitants, some 2,500,000 in number, are of the 
Chinese and Malay types. 

The island is of evident volcanic origin, many traces 
of former eruptions being found, but wholly inactive at 
present. Mountain ranges traverse the land, many of 
whose peaks are covered with perpetual snow. There 
are no good harbors, making commerce and navigation 
to and from Formosa, exceedingly dangerous. The 
lands, where cultivated, are very productive. Nearly 
all the fruits of the tropics are grown, with rice, coffee, 
sugar and tobacco as staples. The forests abound in 
camphor, cinnamon, ebony and other valuable trees. 

Formosa was first made known to Europeans by 
some returning Spanish seamen who had lost their 
vessel on the island's rocky shores in 1582. 

The fisheries of these two islands are of great 
value, as also those of the Chusan Archipelago. Im- 
mense quantities are taken, cleaned, dried and sold in 
the markets of China. This valuable interest is not 



134- THE ISLAND WORLD 

confined alone to these islands, but is of great commer- 
cial importance in nearly all of the island groups de- 
scribed. 

Like Australia, in the surrounding seas, as many 
as thirteen hundred species of fish are known. 

JAPAN. 

Dai Niphon, the Japanese Empire, we know of, 
through history and tradition, as far back as 680 B. c. 
The island empire is embraced between latitude 23 
deg. and 50 deg. north, and longitude 122 deg. and 
153 deg. east. Thousands of islands (the official num- 
ber is stated to be 4,000), stretched over the Asiatic 
seas, make a landed area of about 250,000 square 
miles, inhabited by 34,000,000 people. 

The island chains and clusters are divided into 
groups, the more important being named Kurile, Kiu- 
shiu, Niphon, Riukiu, Sado, Shikokiu, Yezo, Goto, 
Oki, Iki, Oshima, Awaji, Hirado, etc.; the most noted 
cities on which are Tokio (formerly Yedo), Kioto, 
Ozaka, Nagoya, Hiroshuma, Sagii, Kagoshuma, Ka- 
nagawa, Samoda, etc. 

HISTORY. 

Our first knowledge of Japan was through the 
celebrated Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, who visited 
the empire in the thirteenth century. At a more mod- 
ern period we hear of them through the efforts of the 
Catholic missionaries, and again from the Dutch ex- 
plorer, Kaempfer. It remained, however, almost a 
terra incognita until 1854, when the United States, 
through the efforts of Commodore Perry, succeeded 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 135 

in making a commercial treaty that opened up the 
isolated empire to the trade of the world. 

The islands of Japan were probably peopled by 
the Chinese in 1000 b. c. — many traces of whom are 
to be found in the language, manners, religion, cus- 
toms and agriculture of the Japanese to-day. The art 
of navigation, also, was well understood by them for 
many centuries. 

NAVIGATION. 

As early as the sixteenth year of the reign of the 
Emperor Suizin, 81 b. c, merchant ships and ships 
of war are spoken of as being built in Japan. 

In the early periods their vessels must have been 
greatly superior in form and build to those of the 
present day. In fact, they were and are mariners of 
no mean order, and through this circumstance alone, 
if we add the storms, favoring winds and the ocean 
currents of the Kuro Shiwo in the north, and the 
Peruvian currents in the south, the peopling of North 
and South America can be traced back to the Japanese 
and Chinese. 

The disappearance of Japanese vessels off of their 
coast, with their crews, nc^ver to return, whether 
through accident or design, have become so frequent 
as to require an imperial decree to check it. Under 
the reign of Shogoon Irzemitsu, about 1639, an 
edict was issued commanding the destruction of all 
boats built on any foreign model, and forbade the 
building of vessels of any size or shape superior to 
that of the present junk. By the imperial decree of 
1637, Japanese who had left their country and been 
abroad were not allowed to return, death being the 
penalty for traveling abroad, studying foreign Ian- 



J36 THE ISLAND WORLD 

guages, introducing foreign customs or believing in 
Christianity. 

About this time all junks were ordered to be 
built with open sterns and large square rudders, unfit 
for ocean navigation, as it was hoped thereby to keep 
the people isolated within their own islands. Once 
forced from the coast by stress of weather, these rud- 
ders are soon washed away, when the vessels naturally 
fall off into the trough of the sea and roll their masts 
out. The number, of which no record exists which have 
thus suffered during the last nineteen centuries, must 
be very large, probably many thousand vessels. 

(Brooks on Japanese Wrecks.) 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The topograpical features of Japan must of a 
necessity vary a great deal. Being a countr)^ wholly 
composed of islands, large and small, the physical 
features of mountains, valleys, lakes and streams, 
have not that extent and grandeur of older and 
larger countries. The rivers for this reason are not 
long, broad or of very great depth, and therefore 
inland navigation is not much in vogue. However 
some of the mountain ranges are very prominent, 
notably the volcanic peak of Fugisan, with an altitude 
of 14,000 feet, in the regions of perpetual snow. 

EARTHQUAKES. 

Geologically, the position of most of the islands 
is of so uneasy a foundation that a popular tradi- 
tion of the Japanese, locates their empire on the 
back of a huge catfish. To the uneasy and angry 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 137 

motions of this fish they attribute their numerous 
earthquakes— as many as eighty of these temblo7's 
sometimes visiting them in one day. They are fre- 
quent, and at times very disastrous, the danger from 
fire in their wooden cities often adding to the horrors. 
On this subject a recent writer says: Besides the 
outbursts of frequent volcanic eruptions, no country 
is more frequently visited by destructive earthquakes. 
Ksempfer enumerates six active volcanic mountains. 
Earthquakes, he says, are so frequent that the natives 
regard them no more than Europeans do ordinary 
storms. In 1855 a succession of earthquakes took 
place and lasted forty days, causing the destruction 
the best portion of the city of Yeddo, and the death, 
it is alleged, of 200,000 of its inhabitants. In 1 783 
the eruption of a volcano on the island of Kiusui, 
accompanied by-violent earthquakes, destroyed in a 
single province twenty-seven villages. Another vol- 
canic eruption took place in the same island in 1793, 
accompanied by earthquakes, which continued from 
March to June, and caused, according to official re- 
turns, the death of 53,000 persons, with a propor- 
tional destruction of property. On the 23d of De- 
cember, 1854, an earthquake occurred which was felt 
on the whole coast. Of the town of Simoda, only a 
few temples and private edifices that stood on elevated 
ground escaped destruction. The fine city of Osacka, 
on the southeastern side of Niphon, was completely 
destroyed, and the capital, Yeddo, did not escape 
without injury. On the loth of November, 1855, an 
earthquake at Yeddo is said to have caused the de- 
struction of 100,000 dwellings and fifty-four temples 
and the death of 30,000 persons. 

(Homan's Cyclo. of Com. and Nav.) 



ij8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

METALLURGY. 

The empire produces all the valuable minerals in 
abundance, as also a good bituminous coal, which they 
turn into coke and use extensively in working the 
metals. 

They are the masters of many secret processes 
in mineralogy and metallurgy, and in the inlaying of 
metals, one on the other, much used in the ornamenta- 
tion of their bronzes, mingling gold, copper and silver 
in the most delicate and intricate designs, have never 
been equalled in Europe or America. In modeling in 
wax, to receive the clayey covering afterwards, pre- 
paratory to casting the designs in bronze or other 
metals, they show a knowledge and skill seldom 
equalled. 

FLORA. 

The vegetable productions of Japan are for the 
most part common to temperate regions. Timber, 
however, is so scarce that no one is permitted to cut 
down a tree without permission from the magistrate, 
and only on condition of planting a young one in its 
stead. The most common forest trees are the fir and 
cedar, the latter growing to an immense size, being 
sometimes more than eighteen feet in diameter. In 
the northern portion of the empire two species of oak 
are found, which differ from those of Europe. The 
acorns of one kind are boiled and eaten, and are said 
to be both palatable and nutritious. The mulberry 
tree grows wild, and in abundance ; the varnish tree 
{rhus veriiix) abounds in many districts. In the south 
the bamboo cane, though a tropical plant, is found 
either in the wild or cultivated state, and is much used 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN ijp 

in their manufactories. The camphor tree is of great 
value here, and Hves to a o^reat ag^e. Siebold visited 
one which Ksempfor described as having been seen by 
him 135 years before. It was healthy and covered 
with foliage, ' and had a circumference of fifty feet. 
The country people make the camphor from a decoc- 
tion of the root and stems, cut into small pieces. 
Chestnut and walnut trees are both found. Among 
the fruit trees are the orange, lemon, fig, plum, apple, 
cherry and apricot. 

(Romans.) 

As agriculturists the Japanese are fully equal to 
the Chinese; in fact, using all the methods of irriga- 
tion, rotation of crops, the use of manures, so much in 
vogue in the older country. They are experts in the 
handling of the silk-worm, turning its cocoon into all 
the forms of valuable silk ; while in the growth and 
cultivation of the tea-plant they are unsurpassed. 

INHABITANTS. 

They are far advanced in horticulture as well, and 
far ahead of other nations in their methods of urging 
on or retarding the growth of plants. Thus the Cam- 
ellia Japonica may be seen from a very diminutive 
growth to a tree forty feet in height, while the pine, 
cedar, and fruit, are represented in trees of mature 
growth, from two inches in height up to the natural 
growth common in other countries. 

The Japanese are bold and daring mariners, and 
the only race in these regions who pursue the whale. 
They make many voyages to Kamptchatka and the 
Aleutian isles, making light of heat and cold, or hard- 
ships of any kind. It has only been through the re- 



I40 THE ISLAND WORLD 

straint placed upon them by the severest of laws, that 
has prevented these people from being known to the 
maritime world centuries ago, and taking their place 
amongst the most enterprising and boldest of navi- 
gators. 

The many bays and inlets indenting the island 
shores, swarm with shoals of fish, and they, with the 
lakes and rivers, are covered by aquatic birds, afford- 
ing an easy living to the poorer classes. Pearls of 
great value abound along the shores; while the shell, 
much valued here, is worked up in a thousand ways 
as ornaments and inlaid work. 

The people are an active, vigorous race, and very 
intelligent; and although shut up for so many centu- 
ries, isolated from the outer world, they are kind and 
hospitable to strangers, carrying their courtesy and po- 
liteness to the greatest extreme. Since the American 
treaty in 1854 they have steadily improved in shipping 
and manufactures, freely admitting all our arts of peace 
and war to be introduced among them. At the pres- 
ent time, young Japanese of the better classes are to 
be found traveling in all parts of the world or attend- 
ing the colleges and academies of the most advanced 
nations, diligently and intelligently seeking all that 
miay advance or benefit their native land. 

TEA PLANT. 

A brief description of the tea plant, so assiduously 
and profitably cultivated by the Asiatic races, may 
interest the general reader. 

The tea plant {Thea Sinensis), in a wild state, is 
a bushy shrub, often reaching to the dignity of a tree 
in size and foliage. In the cultivated state, in China 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 141 

and Japan, the plants are held back, being- pruned 
down and not allowed to grow higher than three to five 
feet. Botanists of to-day rank it as Cammellia TJiea 
genus, same as the Cammellia Japo7iica; also bearino^ 
a close resemblance to the Cainmellia Sasanqtta, intro- 
duced in Europe and America from China in 181 1. 

The plant resembles the japonica somewhat in its. 
buds and flowers, the leaves differing in being longer, 
narrower and less shiny. It is an evergreen, and af- 
fords from three to four crops a year, the second pick- 
ing being considered the best. The leaves are picked 
altogether by hand, when they are conveyed to drying- 
floors, the green varieties being dried on copper plates 
over slow fires, which results (not, however, without 
the assistance of being rolled between the hands of the 
laborers) in the closely-curled form found in nearly all 
teas. It has been stated that the green variety owes 
its color to the chemical action of the copper on the 
leaves. This is erroneous, as the black varieties are 
picked from the same plant, and receive their color 
from being allowed to go through a slow fermenting^ 
process, which changes the leaves of the same plant 
from green to black. From the dry-houses the tea is 
packed in lead-lined cases, or put up in paper pack- 
ages, as we see it in the markets of the world. 

Tea was first discovered in China, growing in a 
wild state, in the eighth century. In the fourteenth 
year of the reign of the Emperor Te-Tsong, correspon- 
ding to the year ']%-t^ of our era, we find an impost 
levied on tea. Japanese writers state that the plant 
was first brought to their country from China in tlie 
ninth century. 

Of Europeans, the Portuguese were probably the 
first to discover its uses — in 15 17. An Englishman — 



142 THE ISLAND WORLD 

one of the officers of the East India Company — speaks 
of it in a letter to his company in 1615. 

In the years 1870, '71, '72 and '']'}y, the imports of 
tea into Great Britain were about sixty thousand tons 
per annum, valued at about $55,000,000. 

Into the United States, in 1871, '72, '']2) ^^^ '74» 
the imports of tea were about 27,500 tons per annum, 
of an annual value of about $20,000,000. 

CAMPHOR TREE. 

A valuable indigenous growth of Japan is the 
camphor tree, one of the laurel family [Lauracea Cam- 
phor a). It is native to the soil of nearly all the is- 
lands of the Eastern Archipelago and the Asiatic coast. 
The tree grows to a large size, with beautiful, wide- 
spreading foliage, and bears a small fruit, not unlike 
in size and appearance to a black currant. The ordi- 
nary camphor of commerce is produced by steeping 
the twigs, roots, and other portions of the tree in water, 
and then, by heat, distilling the liquid over into con- 
densors, where it deposits in small white crystals, when 
it is carefully dried and packed for shipment. 

That of Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and some of the 
Molluccas, is taken from the tree in the form of a gum, 
which exudes from the limbs, body and roots, drying 
and crystallizing in masses, sometimes weighing ten or 
fifteen pounds. This quality is considered to be of 
great value by the Chinese and Japanese, who readily 
pay a hundred times more for it than for that pro- 
duced by distillation. 

The wood of the tree is of considerable impor- 
tance, being worked up in many ways into glove boxes, 
trunks, chests, and as a veneer for all receptacles re- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 143 

quiring protection from the inroads of the insect 
world. 

GOVERNMENT RELIGION. 

The system of government of the Japanese Em- 
pire is that of an absolute monarchy. The power of 
the Mikado is absolute and unlimited in legislative, ex- 
ecutive and judicial . matters. The Great Council 
(Daijo-Kwan), in which the Emperor himself presides, 
is the supreme executive, as well as the highest legis- 
lative body. It is composed of a Prime Minister, two 
Junior or Vice Prime Ministers, and a number of Privy 
Councillors. The latter, as a rule, are either heads of 
the several executive departments or other important 
bodies. At present there exists no complete severance 
between the leo^islative and executive sections of the 
Government. The most important body in the Gov- 
ernment is the Gen-Roin, or Senate, established in 
1875. It deliberates on legislative matters, but its de- 
cisions are subject to confirmation by the Great or 
Cabinet Council, and sanction by the sovereign. The 
number of Senators is unlimited (thirty-seven in 1883); 
they are chosen from those who have rendered signal 
service to the state. Another body, the Sanji-in 
(Council of State), created in 1881, has the function of 
initiating and framing bills, and discussing matters 
transmitted by the executive -departments, subject to 
deliberations in the Senate. It also hears and decides 
cases relating to administration. 

The religion of nearly the whole of the lower 
classes is Buddhism, which had 76,275 priests in 1881; 
Shintoism had 17,851 priests. Christianity is stated 
to be spreading among the people. School attendance 
has been made compulsory. 



I^^ THE ISLAND WORLD 

LADRONE ISLANDS. 

Due east from the island of Luzon, between lati- 
tude 13 deg. 50 min. and 20 deg. 50 min. north, and 
longitude 145 deg. 50 min. and 147 deg. east, are the 
Ladrone or Marian group. 

There are in all about twenty islands, of which 
Guajan is the largest, being about 90 miles in circum- 
ference. The area of the group is 1,300 square miles, 
with a population of 8,000. 

Discovered by Magellan in 1521, they form a part 
of the Spanish possessions in the Pacific. 

The products are similar to the many islands al- 
ready described, with an abundance of water, and soil 
of great fertility. 

North by east from the Ladrones are the Jardines 
group, and north of these, again, Anson's Archipel- 
aofo. Still further east and south we come 'to the 
Nameless group. Volcano, La Mira, Halcyon, Wakes. 
Cornwallis, and many other islands dotting the great 
Pacific Sea. In longitude 162 deg. 60 min. west, and 
2 deg. north latitude, there is Christmas Island ; and 
north by west from that, and in the same group, we 
find America, Fanning, Palmyra, Prospect and Sama- 
rang Islands. 

To the north, again, in latitude 15 deg. 45 min. 
north, and longitude 169 deg. west, are the Johnston 
Islands, two in number, and of considerable commer- 
cial importance, from the guano found there. 

BONIN ISLANDS. 

The Bonin group, between 26 deg. 30 min. and 
27 deg. 44 min. north latitude, and 142 deg. and 145 




§1 
§1 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 145 

deg.. east longitude, may be set down as containing- 
seventy islands, with twenty or thirty rocks lying be- 
tween. There is no definite data at hand giving the 
area and population of this group, though it would be 
safe to set the former at 500 square miles, and the lat- 
ter at 1,000. 

The formation is volcanic, the topography rocky 
and precipitous, with deep water close to shore. They 
have long been a resort for whalers in these regions, 
for wood and water supplies. 

The islands, at one time, in the latter part of the 
seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth cen- 
turies, were used by the Japanese as penal colonies. 
Pell, Buckland and Stapleton are the largest and best- 
known islands. 

Their products are unimportant at present. The 
group is claimed by Great Britain, being taken posses- 
sion of by that power in 1826. 

ANSON AND AUCKLAND ISLANDS. 

There are many island groups, atolls and barren 
isles, hardly as yet of enough commercial importance 
to require special or particular description. Under 
this head is the Anson archipelago, lying west of the 
Hawaiian group ; and although but a chain of small 
islets, with but few products, it would be hard, in this 
age of discovery and requirements, to predict their 
future. 

The Auckland Islands, between latitude 50 deg. 
24 min. and 51 deg. 4 min. south, and longitude 163 
deg. 46 min. and 164 deg. 3 min. east, are of consider- 
able importance. They are about twenty in number, 
several of them, like the island of Auckland, being 



146 THE ISLAND WORLD 

fully 30 miles long by 15 miles wide. They are of 
volcanic origin, with an abundance of water and tim- 
ber and fertile soil. Guano of a fine quality is said to 
be in quantity on some of the islets. Discovered in 
1806, they remained for many years almost unknown 
and unoccupied, up to 1849, when they were granted 
by Great Britain to a corporation, who used them prin- 
cipally as a whaling station, but were finally abandoned 
In 1852. The northern portion of the group is some- 
times known as the Enderby Islands. The whole group 
may contain an area of 1,000 square miles, with a pop- 
ulation of 500. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 147 



CHAPTER X. 



ISI^AKDS 



An island salt and bare, 
The haunt of seals, and ores, and seamews 
clang. 

Milton {Paradise Lost). 

ALASKA AND THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. 

THIS chain of islands, stretching from Alaska in a 
southeasterly direction to the shores of Kampt- 
chatka, lying between 51 deg. and 56 deg. north 
latitude, and 163 deg. and 188 deg. west longitude, 
form almost a connecting link between North America 
and Asia. 

They are about fifty in number, and comprise 
within their limits nearly 8,000 square miles. They at 
one time formed a portion of the possessions of Rus- 
sia in America, and were, with Alaska, deeded to the 
United States by purchase in 1867. 

Unimak and Ounalaska are the principal and 
largest of the four different groups. From climatic 
reasons, as well as their long distance from the civ- 
ilized world, they are very thinly populated and with 
little or no agricultural cultivation. Water is very 
scarce, while there is hardly any growth of timber, 
they present a picture not at all inviting to future pop- 



I4& THE ISLAND WORLD 

ulation. Some of the valleys are well fitted for graz- 
ing purposes, abounding with nutritious grasses, while 
the surrounding waters of the sea teem with fish. 
The whale and the seal make these latitudes at one 
time of the year a favorite resort, and are taken in 
great numbers. There are about 3,000 inhabitants 
in the Aleutian group, whose existence must be any- 
thing but cheerful. 

From their geographical situation, some writers 
and ethnologists have supposed the Aleutian chain to 
have formed the bridge between America and Asia, 
over which the Asiatics crossed, gradually peopling 
America. 

The purchase price paid by the United States to 
Russia for Alaska and the adjoining islands was $7,- 
200,000. The late important developments being 
made in that territory in minerals alone, gold, silver, 
copper and coal, not to mention the immense forests 
of valuable timber, leaves one with the impression 
that our Government did a wise thing in its purchase. 
Its area, something over three and one-half times that 
of the State of California, for which we paid Mexico 
$15,000,000, may yet prove it a veritable bonanza. 
Probably not in an agricultural way, but in fisheries^ 
minerals and timber it may exceed all our past for- 
tunate experiences in territorial acquisitions, like Cali- 
fornia, Arizona and New Mexico, etc. 

ISLANDS OF ST. PAUL AND ST. GEORGE. 

Two of the islands, St. Paul and St. George, have 
been found to be the favorite resorts of the fur seal. 
This was taken advantage of by a San Francisco cor- 
poration, who leased the Islands from the Govern- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 149 

ment at a yearly rental of $55,000, for the purpose 
of a seal fishery alone. They are restricted to 
taking but 100,000 a year, on which the United States 
receives a tax of $2.62 J/^ each, producing in all a 
revenue to the Government from rental and tax of 
j^3 1 7, 500 per annum. 

The island of St. Paul is located in north laticude 
57 deg. 8 min., and west longitude 170 deg. 13 min. 
St. George lies about forty miles to the south. From 
the former, 80,000 seals are taken each yeai* : from the 
latter, 20,000. 

SEALS AND SEAL FISHING. 

From '' Ball's Alaska and its Resources," pub- 
lished in 1870, we learn that the fur seal fishery, 
formerly less important than that of the sea otter, has 
of late years far exceeded it in value. A short review 
of the history of this fishery may not be out of place. 
At present the fur seal are almost exclusively ob- 
tained on the islands of St. Paul and St. George in 
Behring Sea. A few stragglers only are obtained on 
the Falkland Islands and the extreme southwest coast 
of South America. The case was formerly very dif- 
ferent. Many thousands were obtained from the 
South Pacific Islands and the coasts of Chili and 
South Africa. 

The Falkland Island seal {Artophoca FalJzlandicd) 
was at one time common in that group and the ad- 
jacent seas. The skins, worth fifteen Spanish dollars, 
according to Sir John Richardson, were from four to 
five feet long, covered with reddish down, over which 
stiff gray hair projected. They were hunted especially 
on the Falkland Islands, Terra del Fuego, New Geor- 
gia, South Shetland and the coast of Chili. 



ISO THE ISLAND WORLD 

Three and a half millions of skins were taken 
from Mas a Fuera to Canton between 1793 and 1807. 
Another species {Artocephalus Delandi) formerly 
abounded on the coast of Africa, near the Cape of 
Good Hope. Their fur was the least valuable of the 
different kinds of fur seal, and the species seems to 
have become extinct. * '^' * 

Of the Arctic or Behring Sea species (Callorpinus 
Ur sinus) not less than 6,000^00 skins have been ob- 
tained since 1741. 

HABITS. 

The Alaskan fur seal formerly extended from the 
ice line of Behring Sea to the coast of Lower Cali- 
fornia. At present a few stragglers reach the Straits 
of Fuca, where 5,000 were said to have been killed in 
1868, but the great majority are confined to the 
Pribyloff Islands. They have never been found in 
Behring Strait, or within 300 miles of it. They arrive 
at the islands about the middle of June, a few strag- 
glers coming as early as the end of May. They leave 
on the approach of winter, usually about the end of 
October. They are supposed to spend the winter in 
the open sea, south of the Aleutian Islands. 

When returning from their winter quarters (the 
location of which is yet unknown), they come up in 
droves of many thousands on the hillsides near the 
shore, and literally blacken the islands with their num- 
bers. * * * 

METHOD OF KILLING SEAL. 

The manner of conducting the fishery is as fol- 
lows: A number of Aleuts go along the water's edge, 
and getting between the animals and water, shout and 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 131 

wave their sticks. The seals are very timid, and always 
follow each other like sheep ; yet, if brought to bay, 
they will fight bravely. A man who should venture 
into the midst of a herd would doubtless be torn to 
pieces, for their teeth, though small, are exceedingly 
sharp. 

A body of four or five hundred having been sepa- 
rated, as above, from the main assembly, they can be 
driven very slowly by two men into the interior of the 
island, exactly as a shepherd would drive his sheep. 
Their docility depends upon circumstances. If the 
sun is out and the grass dry, they cannot be driven 
at all. If the day is wet and the grass sufficiently 
moi t, they may be driven several miles. Every two 
or three minutes they must be allowed to rest. Those 
who become tired are killed and skinned on the spot 
by the drivers, as it is of no use to attempt to drive 
them. They would at once attack the driver. * * * 
When the seals have been brought to a suitable place, 
they are left with some one to watch them until it is 
desired to kill them. The skins of old males are so 
thick as to be useless. The Russians restricted the 
killing solely to young males less than five years, and 
more than one year, old. 

No females, pups or old bulls were ever killed. 
This was a necessary provision to prevent their ex- 
termination. The seals are killed by a blow on the 
back of the head with a heavy sharp-edged club. 
This fractures the skull, which is very thin, and lays 
them out stiff instantly. The Aleut then plunges 
his sharp knife into the heart, and with wonderful 
dexterity, by a few sweeps of his long weapon, sepa- 
rates the skin from the blubber to which it is attached. 
The nose and wrists are cut around, and the ears and 



J52 THE ISLAND WORLD 

tail left attached to the skin. When the operation is 
over the skin is of an oval shape, with four holes, 
where the extremities protruded. They are then 
taken out and laid in a large pile, with layers *of salt 
between them. After becoming thoroughly salted, 
they are done up, two together in square bundles, 
and tied up with twine. They are then packed for 
transportation to London. No guns are used in kill- 
ing the seal. Indeed, guns are not only unnecessary, 
but injurious, for a hole in the skin diminishes its 
value one-half All the fur seals are dressed in 
London. They were worth in the raw state, in 1868, 
about ^7 each in gold. (Now, 1884, said to be worth 
$10 each.) A machine has been invented by which 
the skin is shaved very thin, the roots of the stiff hairs 
are cut off and they may then be brushed away. 
The down, which does not penetrate the skin to any 
distance, remains, and is dyed black or a rich brown. 
This is the state in which we see the skins at the 
furriers. 

VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

Vancouver Island, in and between latitude 48 
deg. 18 min. and 50 deg. 55 min. north, and longitude 
123 deg. 15 min. and 128 deg. 30 min. west, has an 
area of about 14,000 square miles, with a population of 
1 5,000. 

The principal products are coal and timber of a 
fine quality. Of the former, immense quantities are 
produced. 

Although my purpose throughout has been to re- 
frain altogether from allusion or description of lands 
not located strictly as ocean islands, yet so grand and 
interesting is Puget Sound, that the following short 
description may be of interest to the general reader. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN iss 



THE PUGET SOUND REGION. 



Puget Sound abundantly deserves its reputation 
for remarkable beauty. Commodore Wilkes is quite 
within the bounds of truth in his statement: "Nothing 
can exceed the beauty of these waters. I venture no- 
thing in saying there is no country in the world that 
possesses waters equal to these." With a length of 
probably not more than two hundred miles, the sound 
has a coast line of more than fifteen hundred 
miles. It covers an area of about two thousand 
square miles, or a little more than twice the ex- 
tent of Cook County, in which Chicago is. Its waters 
are very deep, and at almost any point vessels of the 
largest size may approach to land until their sides 
touch the shore, before their keels touch the bottom. 
It has hundreds-of beautiful islands and bays. It lies 
as a deep basin between two lofty ranges of mountains 
— the Cascade Range on the east, and the Coast or 
Olympian Range on the west. The gateway opening 
into it from the Pacific Ocean is the Straits of Juan de 
Fuca (the name of their discoverer), which are ninety- 
five miles long and an average of eight miles in width. 
The sound itself was named for Peter Puget, one of 
Vancouver's lieutenants, who explored it. This great 
navigator gave to another of his lieutenants. Rainier, 
the honor of calling the grandest mountain peak in the 
country by his name, though it is now more generally 
called by the Indian nameTacoma (nourishing breast), 
while it is claimed that its true Indian name is Tanoma 
(almost to heaven). It is the highest peak but one in 
the United States, Mount Blanca in Colorado being 
just twenty feet higher. The latter, however, is not 
so massive, so grand, so overwhelming to the view, 



IS4 THE ISLAND WORLD 

since no beholder looks upon it except from an eleva- 
tion of as much as seven thousand feet, while the for- 
mer, at the town of New Tacoma, is seen from the sea 
level, rising grandly 14,444 feet, and covered perpetu- 
ally with snow and ice, its glaciers surpassing, in ex- 
tent and grandeur, anything to be seen in the Alps. 
Senator Edmunds, who visited the mountain last year, 
says of it: '*I have been through the Swiss mountains, 
and I am compelled to own that — incredible as the 
assertion may appear — there is absolutely no compari- 
son between the finest effects that are exhibited there, 
and what is seen in approaching this grand isolated 
mountain. I would be willing to go five hun- 
dred miles again to see that scene. This conti- 
nent is yet in ignorance of the existence of what 
will be one of the grandest show places, as well as a 



sanitarium." 



QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS 

Northwest of Vancouver, one hundred and thirty 
miles, and eighty miles from the coast, are the Queen 
Charlotte Islands. Like Vancouver, they belong to 
British Columbia. 

There are, in all, about twenty islands in the 
group, the principal being Prevost, Graham, North 
and Moresby. 

Area of the group, 5,000 square miles; popula- 
tion, 6,000. The climate is good, with an abundance 
of water, and pine and cedar timber. Copper, iron and 
coal are found. 

Many good harbors are to be met with in the 
group, while the bays and inlets around the islands 
teem with fish. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN ijs 

ISLANDS ^WEST COAST UNITED STATES. 

The Farralones consist of two clusters, comprising 
seven islands, the nearest of which Is about twenty 
miles from the Golden Gate. They are all destitute of 
soil and vegetation, consisting of bare, rugged rocks, 
which are the resort of immense numbers of sea lions 
and myriads of birds, the eggs of which were a source 
of great profit to those who collected them. 

The southernmost of the group is the largest, 
containing about two acres, and is also nearest to the 
the coast. On this there is a first-class lighthouse to 
warn the mariner of the dangers of the locality. 

No water fit for drinking, except such as was col- 
lected from rains and fogs, was obtainable on any of 
of these islands until 1867, when some of the egg gath- 
erers discovered a spring on the main island, near the 
lighthouse. 

There are no other islands -on the coast of Califor- 
nia north of Point Concepcion. South of that headland 
there are two groups, the most northerly consisting of 
the islands of San Miguel on the west, Santa Rosa in 
the center, and Santa Cruz on the east. 

Santa Cruz, the largest of this group, is twenty- 
one miles in length and four miles wide, and has a 
rugged surface. 

Santa Rosa is fifteen miles in length and nearly 
ten miles wide. Its surface is tolerably level, and 
produces a thick crop of coarse grass and low bushes, 
but its steep, rugged sides, which rise nearly two hun- 
dred feet; almost perpendicularly, afford no good land- 
ing place. 

San Miguel is nearly eight miles long and from 
two to three miles wide. It is almost a barren rock, 



iS6 THE ISLAND WORLD 

but several thousand sheep manage to subsist upon 
the Hmited pasturage growing on the island. About 
forty miles southeast from the above cluster, and off 
the coast opposite Los Angeles County, are the islands 
of San Nicolas and Santa Barbara, and still farther in 
the same direction are Santa Catalina and San Clemente. 

San Nicolas, the most western, is nearly sixty 
miles from the main land. It is eight miles in length 
by about four wide. Its surface is a flat ridge, nearly 
600 feet high, tapering down in rocky ledges to the sea. 

Santa Barbara Island is nearly circular In outline, 
and about two miles in diameter at the base, its sur- 
face on the top containing about thirty acres. 

Santa Catalina, the largest island of this group, is 
about 400 miles south from San Francisco and twenty- 
iive miles from San Pedro, its nearest point to the 
main land. It is nearly twenty-eight miles in length, 
about seven miles wide on its southern and two miles 
on its northern end. Its surface is rough and uneven, 
some points being 3,000 feet above the sea level ; but 
it contains several small valleys which are under culti- 
vation. * * There is a small stream of \vater 
running through its entire length ; it also has a num- 
ber of springs of fresh water. » * 

San Clemente, the most southern, lies about fifty 
miles from the main land of San Diego county. It 
is twenty-two miles in length by about two miles wide. 
* * It contains neither soil, vegetation or water. * * 

(Cronise, Natural Wealth of California.) 

PACIFIC ISLANDS OF MEXICO. 

Of the islands off the coast of Lower California, 
and in the Gulf of California, belonging to Mexico, 
there is little to be said. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 1^7 

In the Gulf, Carmen and Tiburon are the largest 
and most important. The former has long- been cele- 
brated for the immese quantities of salt exported, 
while of the latter but little is known, a hostile tribe 
of Indians being in possession. 

On Carmen, several hundred yards back from the 
seashore, nature has placed a salt lake, probably one- 
half a mile in diameter, a great natural evaporating 
pan, which furnishes a continuous supply of salt, that 
covers its surface like a crust of glistening snow. 
This is raked together in snowy heaps and taken 
away on hand-cars, running on several tramways built 
out into the lake. So rapid is the evaporation and 
accumulation of the salt that hardly the length of a 
day transpires before another supply is ready for re- 
moval. This salt marsh has been in operation for 
over twenty years, and the supply is undiminished. 

Off the coast of Lower California the islands of 
Guadalupe, Cerros, San Benito, Lobos and Santa 
Margarita are of some size and importance. Now 
but the homes of innumerable wild goats, the day 
may come when the finer breeds of the Angora will 
be introduced, and make these barren spots the source 
of valuable industries. 

Further south, the island groups of Tres Ma- 
rias, Revilliagigedo, etc., are to be met with, and 
although not of great extent, are of considerable 
value from the pearl and other fishing grounds found 
there. The fine timber of the tomano and prima 
vera, much used in the manufacture of furniture and 
cabinet ware on the Pacific coast, is exported in large 
quantities. 

The pearl fisheries of the Gulf of California and 
the Bay of Panama form quite an industry, the pearls 



iS8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

and shell found often being of the best quality. 
Pearl, the shell, and fisheries, have been noticed at 
some length in another portion of this work, although 
some of the suggestions made in the chapters on that 
subject might be applied in these localities with great 
profit. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN IS9 



CHAPTER XL 



ISI«AP(DS 



A wilderness of sweets. 

Milton {Paradise- Lost), 

THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 

/¥A HE Hawaiian group, lo in number, although some 
I writers say there are thirteen, is between lati- 
tude 1 8 deg. 54 min. and 23 deg. 34 min. north, 
and 154 deg. 50 min. and 164 deg. 32 min. west longi- 
tudes. The total area is near 6,000 square miles and 
the population some 65,000. 

The rapid growth of this little island kingdom, 
and that within a very few years, into commercial im- 
portance, is but a sample of what will be done in the 
island world in the near future. The topographical 
features of the group, the few and small streams, 
with valleys of no very great extent, with a wasteful 
destruction of nearly all the valuable indigenous 
products in the past, with the low order of inhab- 
itants, has barred their progress, yet the magic wand 
of American enterprise has but touched them, and 
the islands are now in practical, successful commercial 
existence. 

The principal export is sugar. Of this valuable 



i6o THE ISLAND WORLD 

product it IS safe to say that 150,000,000 pounds, or 
75^.000 tons will be produced this year. 

GEOLOGY. 

The geological formation of the group is alto- 
gether volcanic. Two celebrated volcanoes, Kilauea 
and Mauna Loa, are noted for their eruptions, and 
in some of their convulsions the world-famed out- 
bursts of ^tna and Vesuvius ''pale their ineffectual 
fires." Thus, in the island of Hawaii, according 
to the Journal, Geological Society, 1856, in 1840 a 
deluge of lava broke out ten miles below the 
crater of Kilauea. It spread from one to four miles 
wide, and reached the sea at a distance of thirty miles 
in three days, and for fourteen days plunged in a vast 
fiery cataract a mile wide over a precipice of 500 feet. 
In 1843 ^ similar stream flowed from the summit of 
Mauna Loa, and in 1855 the lava broke out at a spot 
*2,ooo feet below the summit, on the opposite side to 
Kilauea, and continued for ten months, overflowing an 
area of 200,000 acres. - The main stream was sixt}^-five 
miles long, from one to ten miles wide and from ten 
to 300 feet in depth. The records do not show any 
eruptions of Mauna Loa previous to 1832. There 
were outbursts in 1851, '52, '55 and '59. In 1868 
one occurred accompanied by a severe earthquake. 
The last was in 1877. 

SUGAR CANE. 

The wonderful sugar-producing qualities of this 
little island group, now something like 70,000 tons per 
annum, is gradually calling the attention of the world 
to what might be done on other islands of the Pacific. 




THE KING OF ST. GEORGE — ALASKA. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN i6r 

Many of these garden spots are peculiarly adapted to 
the growth of cane ; the soil, climate and moisture 
necessary to its successful cultivation being found on 
every hand. 

The sugar cane^ saccharum officinarum, is a pe- 
rennial plant, of the family of grasses, cultivated sor- 
ghum and broom-corn being familiar examples of the 
species. The cane is not found native in any country, 
never producing seeds, and is only reproduced from 
cuttings. There are many varieties, but the best is 
the Otaheite, or Bourbon, grown successfully in the 
Society group. 

Sugar is mentioned at a very early period, being 
used then only as a medicine. It was introduced into 
Persia about the ninth century. In the tenth century 
it was cultivated and formed an article of trade in 
Spain. 

It was first cultivated in Madeira in 1420, and 
shortly afterwards in the Canary Islands. After the 
discovery of America it was introduced into Mexico, 
San Domingo, Brazil, etc., and about the same time 
into Africa and the Indian Archipelago. In our own 
country it was first cultivated by the Jesuits, near New 
Orleans, in 175 1. 

HISTORY. 

In regard to the discovery of these islands by 
Captain Cook, I am led to believe that he was by no 
means the original discoverer, but that like many other 
navigators on the great oceans of the world, it was 
a discovery for him, while in truth it may have been 
known to others many ages previous. 

It is believed that the Hawaiian Islands were first 
discovered by the Spaniards, and were often seen by 



i62 THE ISLAND WORLD 

the Spanish galleons on their yearly passages between 
Acapulco and Manilla in the sixteenth-century. Accord- 
ing to tradition, two Spanish vessels from Mexico were 
wrecked on the island of Hawaii about the year 1525. 
Their crews mixed with the native race, whose de- 
scendants, it is said, can even now be distinguished by 
their complexion. 

The Spanish charts of the Pacific Ocean, dated in 
the sixteenth century, give the position of the islands 
with some accuracy, and call them by names, describ- 
ing the appearance which each island presented to the 
Spanish navigators when seen from their vessels. 
These charts were known in England when Captain 
Cook sailed on his voyages of discovery ; and as the 
London charts of 1777, the year before Cook first vis- 
ited the islands, record their existence, this English 
navigator cannot be considered as their discoverer. 

About the year 1740, according to tradition, a 
ship landed a crew of white men on the island of Oahu. 
The natives knew the value and uses of iron before 
Cook arrived. They stole his boat and broke it up to 
get the iron from it, in Kealeakua Bay, w^here his ships 
anchored in January, 1779, and where he was killed in 
a combat with the natives on the 14th of Februar}^ 
while negotiating, on the shore, for the return of his 
boat 

The French navigator, La Perouse, who also was 
killed by Pacific savages, visited the islands in 1786. 
In 1 790 the first trading ship arrived — the American 
ship Eleanor, The English explorer, Vancouver, ar- 
rived in 1792, and brought from California the first 
cattle that the islands had seen. In 1 793 the harbor 
of Honolulu was discovered and entered by a trading 
vessel from the west coast of America. In 1820 the 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 163 

first whaler arrived — the ship Mary, from Nantucket. 
The lighthouse of Honolulu was first lighted in 1869. 

The first Protestant missionaries arrived at the 
islands in 1820, by the brig Thaddeus, which sailed 
from Boston in 18 19. '^'' '^' * 

They were well received by the islanders, who 
were superstitious idolaters, living under the tyranny 
of their chiefs and priests. Since 1820 the American 
churches (up to 1873) h^^ve sent nearly one hundred 
and fifty men and women as missionaries to these is- 
lands, and have spent a million -^f dollars for their 
evangelical civilization. 

One result of the investment is the controlling in- 
fluence of Americans, etc. 

(Bliss's " Paradise in the Pacific") 
COTTON. 

The cotton plant (genus gossypiurn) is an indige- 
nous growth of nearly all the intertropical countries, 
there being as many as eight varieties of the plant — 
one (the gossypiurn sandwichsense) being native in the 
Sandwich Islands. 

In India, cotton, its cultivation and uses, have been 
known since prehistoric times, and was introduced 
from there into Japan in the seventh century, and into 
Europe by the Mohammedans in the tenth century. 
In the United States it was known as far back as 1536 
— the product from the latter country being now about 
one and one-half million tons per annum. The finer 
qualities — that with the longest fibre — grown in the 
United States, on the isles along the coast of Georgia 
and some of the other seaboard States, known as sea- 
island cotton, would naturally suggest it as one of the 
staples to be cultivated in the South Sea. 



i64 THE ISLAND WORLD 



PRINCIPAL ISLANDS. 



Hawaii, although the largest island in the group 
(having an area of nearly four thousand square miles), 
has but one harbor of any note — that of Hilo. There 
are many indentations along the shores that might 
serve as good anchoring for vessels, but the sterility 
of the back country has so far prevented their occupa- 
tion and settlement. 

Next in size is Mau, with about 603 square miles 
of area. There is little to be said, except that the 
lands are extremely productive where placed under 
cultivation. 

On Oahu, third in size, whose area is 522 square 
miles, is located the principal port of entry and harbor, 
as well as the capital city of the kingdom, Honolulu. 
There is good anchorage here, with a barrier reef of 
coral and lava protecting it on every side. 

Deep-water soundings are found on every hand 
before entering, while inside the average depth may 
be set down at about twenty feet. 

MAUN A LOA. 

The volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Kilauea, located 
on the island of Hawaii, have already received some 
attention in this work. 

Kilauea is sometimes claimed to have the largest 
active volcanic crater in the world, having a circumfer- 
ence of over eight miles, and a depth, from the rim of 
the basin to the burning lava, of one thousand feet." 
The elevation of the crater is 4,000 feet, while its fier)^ 
neighbor, Mauna Loa (both being located on the 
mountain of that name) towers into the skies 13,760 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 165 

feet above the sea. In regard to the size of volcanic 
craters, it might be said that in the eastern part of the 
island of Java a crater is to be found twelve to fifteen 
miles in circumference ; that of Kilauea does not ex- 
ceed nine miles. On the eastern peninsula of the is- 
land of Maui, one of the Sandwich group, is located 
the summit crater of Mauna Haleakala, 10,200 feet 
above the sea level. Following the rim of the once 
fiery cauldron, the circumference is all of twenty-seven 
miles, while the depth from the edge to the bottom of 
the great pit is two thousand feet. As far as known, 
this is the largest volcanic crater in the world. Of 
Kilauea, Dana says : 

BURNING LAKE OF KILAUEA. 

Kilauea is a deep pit in the sides of Mount Loa. 
The gentle slopes of the dome in this part scarcely 
vary from a plain, and the crater appears like a vast 
gulf excavated out of the rock-built structure. Al- 
though there is no cone, the country around is slightly 
raised above the general level, as if by former erup- 
tions over the surface; but this is hardly apparent 
without extended and careful examination. 

The traveler perceives his approach to the crater 
in a few small clouds of steam rising from fissures not 
far from his path. While gazing for a second indica- 
tion, he stands unexpectedly upon the brink of the pit. 
A vast amphitheatre, seven miles and a half in circuit, 
has opened to view. Beneath a gray, rocky precipice 
of 650 feet, forming the bold contour, a narrow plain 
of hardened lava (the "black ledge") extends like a 
vast gallery around the whole interior. Within this 
gallery, below another similar precipice of 340 feet, 



i66 THE ISLAND WORLD 

lies the bottom, a wide plain of bare rock more than 
two miles in length. 

The eye naturally ranged over the whole area for 
something like volcanic action, as it is usually de- 
scribed. But all was singularly quiet. In the dark plain 
that forms the bottom there was little to attract atten- 
tion beside the utter dreariness of the place, excepting 
certain spots of a blood-red color, which appeared to 
be in constant yet gentle agitation. Instead of behold- 
ing a sea of molten lava ''rolling to and fro its fiery 
surge and flaming billows," we were surprised at the 
stillness of the scene. The incessant motion in the 
blood-red pools was like that of a cauldron in constant 
ebullition. The lava in each boiled with such activity 
as to cause a rapid play of jets over its surface. One 
pool, the largest of the three then in action, was after- 
wards ascertained by survey to measure 1,500 feet in 
one diameter, and 1,000 in the other; and this whole 
area — into which the capitol grounds at Washington 
might be sunk entire — was boiling, as seemed from 
above, with nearly the mobility of water. Still all went 
on quietly. Not a whisper was heard from the fires 
below. While vapors rose in fleecy wreaths from the 
pools and numerous fissures, and above the large lake 
they collected into a broad canopy of clouds, not unlike 
the snowy heaps or cumuli that lie near the horizon on 
a clear day, though changing more rapidly their fanci- 
ful shapes. On descending afterwards to the black 
ledge at the verge of the lower pit, a half-smothered, 
gurgling sound was all that could be heard from the 
pools of lava. Occasionally there was a report like 
that of musketry, which died away and left the same 
murmuring sound — the stifled mutterings of a boiling 
fluid. Such was the appearance of Pele's pit in a day 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 167 

view, at the time it was visited by the author (in No- 
vember, 1840). 

At night, though less quiet, the scene was one of 
indescribable sublimity. We were encamped on the 
edge of the crater, with the fires in full view. The 
large cauldron, in place of its bloody glare, now glowed 
with intense brilliancy, and the surface sparkled with 
shifting points of dazzling light occasioned by the jets 
in constant display. A row of small basins on the south- 
east side of the lake were also jetting out their glowing 
lavas. Two other pools in another part of the pit 
tossed up their molten rock much like the larger caul- 
dron, and occasionally burst out with jets forty or fifty 
feet in height. The broad canopy of clouds above the 
pit, which seemed to rest on a column of wreaths and 
curling heaps of lighted vapor, and the amphitheatre 
of rocks around the lower depths, were brightly illumi- 
nated from the boiling lavas, while a lurid red tinged 
the distant parts of the inclosing walls, and threw into 
shades of darkness the many cavernous recesses. And 
over this scene of restless fires and fiery vapors, the 
heavens, by contrast, seemed unnaturally black, with 
only here and there a star like a dim point of light. 
The next night streams of lava boiled over from the 
lake, and formed several glowing lines diverging over 
the bottom of the crater. Towards morning there was 
a dense mist, and the whole atmosphere seemed on 
fire. Through the haze the lakes were barely distin- 
guished by the spangles on the surface that were 
brightening and disappearing with incessant change. 

ISLAND FORMATION. 

Among the groups of Polynesia the Hawaiian ex- 
ceeds all others in geological interest. The agency 



i68 THE ISLAND WORLD 

of both fire and water in the formation of rocks is 
exempHfied not only by results, but also by processes 
now in action, and the student of nature may watch the 
steps through the successive changes. He may de- 
scend to the boiling pit and witness the operations in 
the vast laboratory with the same deliberation as he 
would examine the crucible in a chemist's furnace. Thus 
the manner in which mountains are made and islands 
built up becomes a matter of observation. The vol- 
canic dome may be seen in process of accumulation 
from overflowing lavas, and may be traced as it in- 
creases in size. Again, disruptions of the accumu- 
lated rock may be observed, followed by their disap- 
pearance in the lavas below. 

While these volcanic mountains are still extending 
their limits in one part of the group, in others those 
changes are finely illustrated, which they undergo 
through the action of water, gradual decomposition 
and other allied causes, and these effects are in every 
stage of progress. In some instances the slopes retain 
the even surface of the lava stream ; in others, they are 
altered in every feature — the heights are worn down, 
the whole surface gorged out with valleys, and the 
depth of these furrowings of time, indicate that the 
several islands differ widely in the length of the period 
since they were finished by the fires and left to the 
action of the elements. 

Moreover, the coral formations of the shores pre- 
sent us with reefs now in progress from the growing 
zoophytes, and there are also reefs elevated many 
feet above the sea, having a close resemblance to beds 
of limestone. Besides these, there are hills of drift sand- 
rock, of coral origin. The various facts illustrate, there- 
fore, all the results of coral growth and accumulation. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 169 

The group is consequently the key to Polynesian 
geology. It combines all the features which are else- 
where widely scattered, and they are so exhibited in 
progressive stages as to afford mutual illustration. 
An island like Tahiti, so broken into peaks and 
ridges, may excite wonder and doubt. The Hawaiian 
group suggests the same difficult problem as Tahiti, 
but an intelligent solution is at the same time pre- 
sented for our contemplation and study. 

(Dana, Geol., Wilkes' Exp. Expedition.) ^ 
ISLANDS PACIFIC COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA. 

Off the west coast of South America there are at 
least 300 islands, becoming more numerous and in 
larger groups as we go towards Cape Horn. 

. Those off the coast of Ecuador, the Albemarle, 
James, Chatham, Indefatigable, Hood, Charles, Nar- 
boro, etc., have already been alluded to in this work, 
under the head of Galapagos. 

GUANO. 

Lying near the coast of Peru, and only about 
twelve miles from the main land, between 13 deg. and 
14 deg. south latitude, and containing but a few square 
miles of area, are the celebrated guano group, the 
Chincha Islands. It may not be unininteresting 
to state -here, that nearly 20,000,000 tons gauno 
have been exported to Europe and America from this 
little group alone. The shipments were commenced 
in 1 841, and continued on a scale of great magnitude 
up to 1872, when the guano deposits were practi- 
cally exhausted. Between the years 1853 and 1872, 



ryo THE ISLAND WORLD 

8,000,000 tons were shipped. It is said that the govern- 
ment of Peru was enriched from this source alone. 
If we admit Peru as having received ^5 per ton for 
these deposits, it will be seen that bonanzas do not 
always lie in mineral veins. 

As a fertilizer for the agriculturist, guano has no 
superior — one ton of it being equal to fifteen to thirty- 
four tons of the ordinary manures now in use. 

There is no doubt but many islands of this char- 
acter will ultknately be found scattered over the 
broad expanse of the South Seas. As guano is worth 
from ^30 to ^40 per ton in Europe and America, it 
does not require a great deal of figuring to show that 
any country or company making a discovery and loca- 
tion of this kind, will not only enrich themselves, but 
benefit the world at large. The islands of Ferrol, 
Guanape, Lobos, Tierra, Mengon, Pachacama, San 
Lorenzo and Zorati, also belonging to Peru, are of 
some importance. 

The larger islands off the west coast of Chili are 
of great value, not only as important fishing grounds, 
but for the many agricultural products, and fine tim- 
ber they produce. 

The principal are Byron, Cambridge, Campana, 
Chiloe, Clarence, Desolation, Duke of York, Guay- 
tecas, Hanover, Huafo, Landfall, Madre de Dios, 
Mocha, Narborough, Noir, Queen Adelaide, Santa 
Inez. Skyring and Wellington. 

Chiloe is probably the most important, as well as 
one of the largest of the group, having an area of 
5,200 square miles, and inhabited by some 10,000 
people. It was first discovered by Mendoza, in 1588. 
Great attention is paid to agriculture; wheat, corn and 
potatoes being the favorite crops. With an abundant 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 171 

rainfall, and lands not too mountainous or hilly, Chiloe 
has long proved a source of wealth to her people. 
Many vessels, whalers and others, resort to these 
islands for their supplies, while from many of the 
islets lying between, considerable quantities of guano 
are shipped. 

Some of the isles were at a former period favorite 
resorts for the fur seal, but like the islands of Juan 
Fernandez and Mas a Fuera, which were also great 
sealing grounds in their day, they have been driven 
away, and now make their breeding resorts on other 
groups. 

EASTER ISLAND. 

Due west from the northern coast of Chili, some- 
thing lik^ 2,300 miles, lies this little dot in the South- 
ern Sea. It is located in south latitude 27 deg. 6 min., 
and west longitude 109 deg. 17 min., contains an area 
of about seventy square miles, and a population of 
1,000 people, of the Polynesian type. Its discovery 
is sometimes credited to Captain Cook, in 1774, who 
visited it in that year ; by others, to Roggewein, the 
Dutch navigator, who located and mentions it as early 
as 1722. 

The island is of evident volcanic origin, three 
prominent craters of past eruptions being already dis- 
covered. The soil in the valleys, and some portions 
fringing the sea shore, is very fertile where placed un- 
der cultivation. There is but little forest growth, and 
water is scarce. 

Of late years the island has assumed quite a 
prominence, from the remarkable features and evi- 
dences of a prehistoric race found there, to the great 
delight of scientists and the sunken continent theorists. 



172 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Hundreds of statues and broken columns are said to 
be scattered over the land, some of the former being 
of the human figure, fully forty feet in height, and 
eight to ten feet broad across the shoulders. Many 
have fallen down, and others are rapidly succumbing 
to the abrading influences of the elements, while others 
again are found located in the volcanic craters them- 
selves, and thought to indicate the ancient race, as fire 
worshippers. The rude sculpturing is from the com- 
mon rock found on the island, many unfinished tablets 
and statues being discovered in the quarries, as if the 
inhabitants had been rudely interrupted in their work 
by some awful volcanic outburst, or earthquake con- 
vulsion. 



-•-. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN ^173 



CHAPTER XII. 



ISI^AJND PRODUCXS A?(D RKSOVRCE^. 



A pearl may in a toad's head dwell, 
And may be found too in an oyster shell. 

Bun VAN {Apology for his Book.) 

PEARLS AND PEARL FISHING* 

F!ARL fishing has been a curious and valuable 
industry for ages, reaching away back into dim 
antiquity. The great demand of the present 
day, not only for the pearls, but for the mother-of-pearl 
shell, has made the industry a more valuable one than 
diamond mining. The innumerable uses that the shell 
is put to for ornament and for useful purposes, has 
created a continually increasing demand for it in all 
parts of the world. Among the islands of the Pacific, 
fisheries are found of vast extent, producing pearls 
and shell of the finest quality. In fact, some of these 
l^eds have furnished already bushels of the gem, rang- 
ing in value from one to thirty thousand dollars apiece; 
while shell, when properly cured and cared for, meets 
with ready sale in the principal markets of the world 
at about ^v^ hundred dollars per ton. 



174 



' THE ISLAND WORLD 



HABITS. 



The pearl oyster has habits pecuHar to itself; and 
as far as the writer has observed, all effort to change 
them or make any improvement in their condition or 
locality, has never been effected by man. All attempts 
to propagate or transplant the oyster from the locali- 
ties where first found, have proved a signal failure. 
They are born and live and die, at or near their homes, 
and are not found hunting for fields or pastures new, 
or very far from the place of their nativity. It is a 
mistake, however, to suppose that the oyster does not 
or cannot move. The fallacy that they attach them- 
selves in strings and clusters to the coral caves, in, 
under and beyond the surf in favorite localities, and 
never move from them, has been proven to the con- 
trary. Places that have been cleared of the oyster 
altogether, by fishing, have been known, particularly 
after a great storm, to become thickly settled with new 
shell, and that, too, of a large size and apparent full 
growth ; proving that they can swim, float, and move 
around as their needs and habits dictate. Their fa- 
vorite breeding ground in the South Sea, and this only 
in particular localities, seems to be in and beyond the 
surf of some of the atolls, or horse-shoe shaped islands, 
that have a great lagoon in the center, and to and 
from which, the tide ebbs and flows without hindrance. 
In such places the small shell, from the size of a pea 
to that of a shilling, may be seen in great numbers, 
tossed about in the surf and on the waves ; and again 
making their way with the inflowing tide to the lagoons 
of the atolls ; there to sink to the bottom and form beds 
similar to those of the oyster of our own country. On 
the outside reefs and in deep water, say about twenty 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 775 

fathoms, that being the greatest depth reached by the 
native divers, the shell is of large size, sometimes 
twelve to eighteen inches in diameter, and when 
opened out measure from two to three feet across. 
Generally speaking they are of no value except as 
curiosities, never containing pearls, and have not that 
beautiful prismatic coloring found in the regular shell. 

PEARL DREDGING. 

Pearl fishing, as practiced in different parts of the 
world now-a-days, is rather a precarious business, be- 
ing accompanied by great danger and many hard- 
ships. The poor divers soon wear out, and the slow 
accumulation of shell, with here and there a pearl of 
great value, makes the product worth all it will bring 
in the market. It is not probable that much impetus 
or safety could be given to the business by the general 
use of submarine armor either, as it has yet to be man- 
aged by hand, and therefore slow progress is made. 
The many thousands of square miles of pearl grounds 
to be found among the islands of the Pacific, a great 
deal of it as yet untouched, should suggest a more 
rapid and effective mode of fishing. With this idea in 
view I have consulted many of our practical mechanics 
and engineers, who are engaged in building dredging 
machines, as also those who manage them in their 
practical workings in our rivers and bays, as well as 
on the line of the canal now being cut through the 
isthmus at Panama. From authorities like these I have 
confirmed the idea that it is perfectly practicable to 
handle nearly all the pearl fisheries of the Pacific 
islands by means of steam dredgers. By such a 
method 'vast quantities of shell could be brought to 



176 THE ISLAND WORLD 

the surface from depths not yet reached by the divers, 
and be opened, cleaned and assorted with a celerity 
that would no doubt astonish the natives. 

In the interior lagoons, fishing in this manner 
would seem an easy matter, as the water is always 
smooth, not being affected even by the great storms 
sometimes experienced in these latitudes. 

After reaching the age of seven or eight years, 
the pearl oyster appears to sicken and die, when it 
opens and spills whatever is contained in the shells. 
This being the case, it is a natural query as to what 
becomes of the pearls. They are never brought up 
by the divers, who are only seeking for perfect shell, 
and with the limited time they are under water — sel- 
dom exceeding two minutes — they break off and ga- 
ther such as can be easily reached, and are glad to 
come to the surface for a breathing spell. If the di- 
vers, with or without armor, were employed only as 
prospectors, to locate the oyster banks, and steam 
dredgers brought into play for the effective work, there 
is no doubt that the business could be made immensely 
profitable. 

PEARL DIVING, 

Pearl fishing has not as yet been brought to a 
system, among the Pacific isles, commensurate with its 
value. True, the business has been prosecuted to a 
great extent at the Paumatou group, but hundreds ot 
other favorable localities in these seas have hardly been 
prospected, and many are unknown. 

At the island of Ceylon, under the encouragement 
of the English Government, the Cingalese have be- 
come experts in the business, although using nothing 
in the way of machinery to assist in its prosecution. 




MARQUESAS ISLANDERS. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN ryj 

When diving in deep water, die Cingalese use a spHt 
stick or piece of bamboo clasped over the nose, and 
stuff their ears with wax or cotton, which leaves both 
hands free to gather and break off the shell, when 
found hanorincr to the coral and attached to the rock. 

o o 

(In the South Seas the business is conducted in an 
informal way.) In their fishing canoes there are gene- 
rally four persons — two to manage and guide the boat 
md to assist the divers. Of the latter, two form the 
balance of the crew and dive alternately, thus giving 
each an opportunity to rest. When descending into 
deep water, a heavy stone is generally used, attached 
to one foot by a loose strap, and with sack and stone 
attached to a small line, which is paid out or hauled 
in, as may be required, by the assistants in the boat. 
Where shell are at all plentiful, the sack is soon filled, 
the foot slipped from the strap around the stone, a jerk 
given as a signal to the line, and the diver comes to 
the surface like a cork, while the weight and sack of 
shell are hauled up at their leisure. During the 
breathing spell, requiring at least thirty minutes, the 
other diver is making his preparations, and goes 
through the same process. When one or two hundred 
of the pearl oysters have been collected, they are care- 
fully opened by means of a blunt, pointed knife, great 
care being* exercised to preser\^e the edges of the 
shell, as well as a careful inspection of the oyster and 
its covering for any inlying pearls. These are some- 
times found imbedded in the oyster itself, but, gene- 
rally speaking, lie loose in the shell. One hundred 
pearls arc often found in a shell, but are mostly small 
and of little value. They are pierced and put on 
strings, like beads, and used in nearly all countries as 
ornaments, known to the trade as seed pearls. The 



J78 THE ISLAND WORLD 

divers do not go down in deep water, or to a depth of 
forty to eighty feet, over ten or twelve times a day, 
the strain upon the brain and lungs fatiguing them to 
the last degree. When through, the boats are pulled 
for the shore, the empty shell piled carefully away in 
the shade, so as to dry slowly — it being found that this 
method preserves all the beautiful coloring of the 
mother-of-pearl, and brings a much higher price in the 
market. These slow accumulations of pearl and shell 
are kept up during fme weather, and at times when 
the temperature of air and water are nearly alike. 
When not already contracted for, as is the case in 
nearly all pearl fisheries, the products are kept to 
await the advent of some trading vessel, or (as has 
unfortunately been the case among many of the groups 
of islands) await the descent of some bold and ruthless 
buccaneer. 

NOTED FISHERIES ANI> GEMS. 

Pearl fishing is conducted on a much more formal 
scale at Ceylon, and opposite on the Cordatchy shore, 
at the Sooloos and Bahrein Islands, and in the Persian 
Gulf Boats are regularly employed at these places, 
of ten or fifteen tons burden, with greater numbers in 
the crews than I have mentioned. On the Condatchy 
shore, pearl fishing has been regularly followed as a 
business for over two thousand years. 

The price of pearls has changed very much in 
modern times, probably from changes in manners and 
fashions, and the admirable imitations that can be ob- 
tained at a low price. One of the most famous pearls 
was bought at Catifa in Arabia, by Tavernier, for the 
fabulous sum of $550,000. The one said to have been 
dissolved and drank by Cleopatra was valued at 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN ryg 

^403,645. Another of similar size and value was cut 
in two parts and used as ear-rings on the statue of 
Venus in the Pantheon at Rome. 

Probably the largest pearl ever found belonged to 
the late Mr. Hope. It measured two inches in length, 
and had a circumference of four inches, weighing 1,800 
grains. 

One found in the Paumotous, South Sea, was sold 
to Queen Victoria for $30,000. 

That of Sir Thomas Gresham, ground up and 
eaten at a banquet given to the Spanish ambassador, 
added a value to the dinner of some $45,000. 

It is estimated that the Paumotou group of the 
South Sea has already furnished over thirty thousand 
tons of merchantable shell, and some millions of dol- 
lars worth of pearls, to the world. 

PROPOGATION. 

The subject of propogating and cultivating the 
pearl oyster has received a good deal of scientific in- 
vestigation for many years, but up to the present has 
met with but little success. The following, taken from 
a recent publication, would indicate that a problem that 
has puzzled the world for ages is about to be solved : 

Some time back the French Government sent 
the Secretary of the College of France to Tahiti to 
study the best means of preventing the exhausting of 
the pearl oyster beds at Papeet. The results of his 
experiment tend to show that this jewel bearing 
bivalve may be cultivated in a way similar to that 
practiced in the case of its edible relative. Like the 
European and American oyster, the pearl oyster is 
pronounced by Mr. Bouchon Brandely to be uni 



i8o THE ISLAND WORLD 

sexual and to be physiologically constructed in the 
same manner. The Mollusk Polynesia has also the 
power of re-attaching itself to the coral reef when 
cast back into the sea by the coral fishers in the event 
of the smallness of its size proving it to be worth- 
less. The experiments also tend to show that the 
pearl oyster found around the coasts of the French 
islands of Oceanica will thrive just as well in parks 
and beds only six or eight feet beneath the surface, as 
in the deepest water. As the oyster is unisexual it is 
easy to produce artificial fecundation. x\ll that is neces- 
sary is to bring the male spawn (the milk-like fluid found 
in an oyster at certain seasons of the year) in contact 
with the female spawn ; a glass of sea-water will 
sufifice for this operat on. It is easy to distinguish 
the one from the other, as the spawn, when mixed 
with a little water, shows a granular formation per- 
fectly visible to the naked eye, while the male spawn 
retains its milk-like appearance. A few days after 
the fecundation, appreciable results show them.selves in 
the form of microscopic oysters ; the water must be 
frequently removed, and as soon as the bivalves have 
attained to a visible size they can be placed in parks, 
where they are to remain until fully developed. The 
results, considering the smallness of the expense in- 
volved, of establishing artificial beds of the pearl- 
bearing oyster in French Polynesia, would be of in- 
estimable value, for not only does this bivalve yield 
the gem so highly prized by the ladies, but also the 
mother-of-pearl, which the industrial art has a thous- 
and and one ways to utilize. The pearl is in reality 
mother-of-pearl, produced under special circumstances. 
If the shell of the mollusk shall be pierced, or should 
a grain of sand or other foreign substance find its 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN i8i 

way into it, a growth of mother-of-pearl is formed 
either to stop the hole in the shell or to protect the 
delicate flesh of the mollusk from contact with the 
foreign substance. There is almost always a speck 
of sand or something of that sort in the center of a 
pearl, and the shells which contain large excrescences 
of mother-of-pearl usually show outward marks of 
damage. The oyster may even be forced to produce 
plants and mother-of-pearl by introducing some foreign 
substance into it, or by piercing the shell in such a 
way as to lay bare the flesh, but great care must be taken 
to do this without in any way injuring the bivalve. A 
great regularity of form, a brilliant white color with 
reflections similar to those of the opal, and size, are 
qualities that give the pearl its value. They are apt, 
however, to suddenly lose their brilliancy, but this 
evil is not without a cure, for if a pigeon is made to 
swallow such a damaged pearl, and killed within a few 
hours afterward, it will be found in its stomach, re- 
stored to all its original luster, a result due to the 
action of the gastric juice of the fowl and the in- 
testines. Care must be taken not to leave the pearl 
too long ; in the space of twenty-four hours it will lose 
one-third of its weight. 

WHALE FISHERIES. 

For a long period, many years before the revolu- 
tionary war, our people were noted for their push and 
enterprise in whale fisheries. No nation has been 
able to compete with them in a prosecution of a busi- 
ness that has simply become stupendous. As early as 
1774, Burke, in his great speech on American affairs, 
paid a high compliment to the energy and enterprise 



i82 THE ISLAND WORLD 

of the American people. He said: " As to the wealth 
which the colonists have drawn from the sea, by their 
fisheries, you had all that matter fully explained at 
your bar. You surely thought these acquisitions of 
value, for they seemed to excite your envy ; and yet 
the spirit by which that enterprising employment has 
been exercised ought rather, in my opinion, to have 
raised esteem and admiration. And pray, sir, what in 
the world is equal to it ? Pass by the other parts, and 
look into the manner in which the New England peo- 
ple carry on the whale fishery. While we follow them 
among the trembling mountains of ice, and behold 
them penetrating into the deepest frozen regions of 
Hudson's Bay and Davis' Straits, while we are looking 
for them beneath the arctic circle, we hear that they 
have pierced into the opposite region of polar cold ; 
that they are at the antipodes, and engaged under the 
frozen serpent of the South. Falkland Island, which 
seemed too remote and too romantic an object for the 
grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and resting- 
place for their victorious industry. Nor is the equi- 
noctial heat more discouraging to them than the accu- 
mulated winter of both poles. We learn that while 
some of them draw the line or strike the harpoon on 
the coast of Africa, others run the longitudes and pur- 
sue their gigantic game along the coast of Brazil. No 
sea but what is vexed by their fisheries. No climate 
that is not witness of their toils. Neither the perse- 
verence of Holland, nor the activity of France, nor the 
dexterous and firm sagacity of English enterprise, ever 
carried this most perilous mode of hardy industry to 
the extent to which it has been pursued by this recent 
people ; a people who are still in the gristle, and not 
hardened into manhood." 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 183 

This great Interest was checked for a time during 
the revolutionary war, but was prosecuted with re- 
newed ardor as soon as peace was declared. The 
waters of the southern seas have long been famous for 
the abundance of the black-headed sperm whale ; not 
away towards the frozen pole, but within the tropical 
circle and in the waters surrounding the islands of the 
South Sea. The fisheries in nearly every portion of 
these regions are followed with great success and 
profit, the black whale being taken as well as the 
sperm, in great numbers. These localities are favorite 
feeding and breeding grounds, the prolific animal life, 
the immense growth of the squid, the favorite food of 
the sperm, the immense number of marine animalculae, 
the principal sustenance of the black whale, make a 
resort where mammals delight to make their homes. 

Whale fishing has been so often and so well des- 
cribed, the minutest particulars being gone into, that 
the subject has become hackneyed, and is only alluded 
to here as one of the many prolific sources of industry 
and wealth offered to enterprise in the southern seas. 

THE TURTLE AND ITS HABITS. 

Many of the island groups of the South Sea are 
noted for the great number of turtle that frequent their 
shores. They are wonderful navigators, with very re- 
tentive memories, and, like the seal and sperm whale, 
do not make any new locations, but return year after 
year to the places of their birth, and make almost the 
same spots their feeding and breeding grounds. These 
exact habits have made the business of turtle fishing 
certain and profitable, not only as an article of food, 
but for the valuable oil they contain, and for the shell, 



i84 THE ISLAND WORLD 

which modern processes have rendered of great value. 
The tortoise, too, with its valuable covering, is much 
sought after, and the shell Worked into beautiful orna- 
ments all over the world. 

The food of the turtle is the sea-moss growing on 
the coral reefs, and the young beche-de-mer, forming 
their principal repast. The female, when about to 
lay, which occurs once a year, chooses the time when 
the moon is full, and is watched and guarded, during 
this interesting process, by her mate, who lays "off 
and on" just outside of the surf-line. Selecting a por- 
tion of the beach with a sunny exposure, she waddles 
ungracefully to a point about ten yards beyond the line 
of high tide, proceeds to excavate a place in the warm 
sand something larger than her own body in diameter, 
and in the center about two feet deep. Having ar- 
ranged her nest in a satisfactory manner, she deposits 
the eggs, about one hundred in number, and in size a 
little smaller than a billiard ball. The nest is then 
filled in with sand and levelled over, and great care 
and attention exercised in obliterating all traces of the 
.sand having been disturbed. After taking all these 
precautions, .she hies herself to her mate, and they 
swim contentedly away. 

If she is disturbed during her preparation for 
hatching, a retreat is made, and she will not be seen 
again for nine days ; if again interfered with, she will 
remain away for a like period ; and if still again dis- 
turbed, will seek some other favorite spot or island, 
and will not return to this particular breeding place 
until the coming year. 

If these places of incubation are watched, in about 
a month the young turtle will be found digging their 
way out of the nest and making for the sea. At this 



OF 77 IF JWCIFIC OCEAN 185 

time they are about the size of one of our silver dol- 
lars, and are quite lively and quick in their movements 
— which seems only a wise provision of nature, as they 
have many enemies to contend with. 



THE TORTOISE. 

The Galapagos are also celebrated for the great 
number of land tortoise that make their homes on those 
islands. They are of the genus Testudo, and are alto- 
gether inhabitants of the land ; of little value, except as 
food. 

The tortoise {Testudo inbricatd), whose shell is so 
beautiful and valuable, is a species of sea turtle, and 
with similar habits. The shell of the tortoise covers 
the back in plates overlapping each other like tiling, 
and in its natural state is about one-eighth of an inch 
in thickness. It has the property of being molded in 
any form at a heat of 2 1 2 degrees, and retaining the 
given shape on cooling. Many tons of the shell are 
exported to Europe and America, where it is worked 
into the many ornamental and useful forms we meet 
with in the stores. This species is seldom found in 
the west longitudes of the Pacific. 

SPONGE FISHERIES. 

Sponges, classed by some writers as belonging 
to the marine species of vegetation, and by others to 
the marine animal kingdom, a species of the zoopJiytes, 
have long formed an important article of trade in all 
parts of the world. The Bahamas, in the West Indies, 
the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean and Red Seas, 
the Levant, Green Turtle Bay, the Orient, with some 



j86 the island WORLD 

Other localities, have for many years had almost a 
monopoly of the sponge trade. I again refer to Mr. 
Sterndale, whose personal experiences and writings 
are of considerable interest. Among the profitable 
industries of the coral seas, the collection of sponges 
is not the least important. To fish for sponges with 
success requires a certain degree of practice, as they 
are very difficult to recognize in the water when in a 
live state. They grow on the coral, and very much 
in the crevices of it, and are not by any means con- 
spicuous, as they look like a part of the stone. 
When removed they are heavy, slimy, hard, and black 
as tar. The best of them are of the form of a mush- 
room, and are found from the size of a man's fist up 
to two feet in diameter. In these latitudes they 
usually lie within the lagoons, in water of a depth from 
one to ten fathoms. They are inhabited by animal- 
culse, which . in the process of cleaning are decom- 
posed and washed away. In order to effect this ob- 
ject upon a sandy beach where the tide ebbs and flows, 
a number of forked sticks are driven into the sand, 
and upon them are fastened slender poles, as a sort 
of frame-work; from these, sponges are suspended 
by strings in such a manner that when the tide is in, 
the sponges are floating in it ; when the tide is out, 
they are exposed to the wind and sun. In the latter 
case, the animalculae die and decay, and by alternate 
sorchings and washings, the sponge becomes cleaned 
and bleached, as well as softened, in consequence of 
the removal of the glutinous creatures which had in- 
habited it. When prepared in this manner, the usual 
rate of barter among the islands where they are 
chiefly obtained, is four large sponges for one yard 
of calico. I have found that they were greatly im- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 187 

proved both in color and softness by being washed in 
hot fresh water, which had been previously strongly 
impregnated with the alkali of wood ashes. 

The better way has been found, as practiced on 
the Mediterranean and at the Bahamas, to use a 
weak solution of muriatic acid, which not only effec- 
tually frees it of animalculae, but removes the last 
txaces of lime adhering to the sponge. 



j8s the island world 



CHAPTER XFI. 



ISLAJND PRODUCTS AKD RHSOURCE^ 



Rocks are rough, but smiling there 
Th' acacia waves her yellow hair, 
Lonely and sweet, nor loved the less 
For flow' ring in a wilderness. 

Moore, (Lalla Rookk.) 

THE ROBBER CRAB. 

I WAS a good deal interested during our voyage, 
in the many tales, legends and experiences so 
ready to the sailor tongue, some of which must be 
listened to and taken with a grain of salt. Yet at 
times I was able to verify what at first seemed to be 
some very hard tales. Thus, at Vanikoro, one of the 
.Santa Cruz group, where v/e remained for nearly ten 
days, the great land-crab of the South Sea was met 
with, known here by the name of *'Koviu." It was 
ascertained to be the Birgus latro, the Anamoura of 
the Crustacae family, or, in plainer terms, and univer- 
sally used in the Pacific, the Land or Robber Crab. 
Some of the species met with were over two feet 
long and about eighteen inches across. They live 
altogether on the land, seldom taking to the water, 
although perfectly at home in that element. Their 
nests are made among the roots of the cocoanut tree, 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN iSq 

and in the little caves and openings among the rocks 
and coral, and are nicely arranged for ease and com- 
fort, being lined with the fibrous covering of the 
cocoanut. During the day they are seldom seen, se- 
lecting night for their peregrinations. 

AS A GOURMAND. 

Shrewd and cunning to a high degree, they seldom 
miss the hatching out of the young turtle, whose nests 
they watch with almost maternal solicitude. But for 
a somewhat different purpose — that of making a re- 
past of the tender young turtles, as they are scudding 
for the water, and which they devour with the greatest 
gusto. I am told that one of the reasons of the ex- 
treme caution of the female turtle, when selecting 
places to deposit her eggs, is an instinctive fear of this 
highwayman. True, the crab does not care for the 
eggs, but, as the sailors say, when the young turtle 
are coming out, the "pirate never misses a trick." 

AS A LOVER OF COCOANUTS. 

Of course the "robber" does not depend upon 
this mode of getting a living at all seasons. Such op- 
portunities occur only during the hatching season of 
the turtle, which is but once a year. Another of the 
favorite methods the crab resorts to for obtaininof food, 
is the continuous orrowth of the cocoanut. Climbinir 
the trees with great skill and a surprising quickness, 
he shears off the fruit from the stem, selecting such 
nuts as are nearly ripe. After obtaining about one 
dozen in this manner, and which are allowed to fall to 
the ground, he descends the tree, and, with his q^reat 



igo THE ISLAND WORLD 

strong claws, strips the covering from the fruit, and 
selects the end where there are several eyes or 
openings In the shell, provided by nature for the easy 
rooting or sprouting of the young tree ; then, forcing 
some of the fingers of Its great claws through these 
into the nut, he deliberately hammers It on the rock 
or coral until the shell bursts open, when the expected 
feast becomes an easy matter. Two or three gener- 
ally serve for the morning's meal, the balance being 
transported to the nest as a reserve. When breaking 
the shells they must exert great force and power, as 
the reverberation of the blows, along the'shore, may be 
heard for a half mile. All that I have related Is per- 
formed with a method, foresight and skill, almost hu- 
man. 

A late writer says (now speaking of a larger 
marine crab) : ''I had heard of these giants, but I had 
no Idea that they attained this enormous size. Though 
this crab Is the largest, It Is not as powerful as the 
famous palm-tree crab, of the Islands south of Japan, 
and In the Indian Archipelago. The crab is called the 
BIrgus, and Is a relative of the hermit crab, only It has 
no shell, the plates on the abdomen being extremely 
hard, 'and effectively taking the place of the shell that 
is worn by others of the kind. The BIrgus Is not a 
water crab, living entirely upon the land, and going 
down to the sea once a day, it is said, for the purpose 
of moistening its gills. They are generally found in 
the near proximity of palm trees, upon the fruit of 
which they live, and their burrows are generally placed 
at the foot of the trees. To give you an idea of the 
number of cocoanuts the creatures eat, the Malays 
come about twice a year and dig up their holes to get 
the cocoanut husks that the crabs took in to make 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 191 

their nests. Hundreds of pounds are thus obtained 
and made into mats, beds, and many other articles of 
household use. 

STRENGTH AND TENACITY. 

The most remarkable feature about these crabs 
was their enormous strength. One was placed in an 
ordinary tin cracker-box, where there was no oppor- 
tunity of taking hold ; but the next morning the box 
was found completely punctured with holes, actually 
bitten through by the sharp, biting claws of the crab ; 
and in another confined in the same way, the top of 
the box was fairly twisted off. Having so much mus- 
cular power, natives naturally approach them with 
some caution, when attempting their capture. I was 
informed that on one occasion a party went out to a 
place somewhat famous for them, and arriving at 
night, with the expectation of trying for the crabs the 
next day. But during the night the party was awak- 
ened by the most terrific screams, and, rushing into 
the wood near at hand with rush lights, they found one 
of the natives swinging partly from the huge leaf of a 
cocoanut tree, and screaming as if he was being hung. 
For some moments they could not make out what the 
trouble was, but finally was sure the man was in the 
grasp- of an enormous Birgus. The native had at- 
tempted to climb a palm tree, but had been seized 
almost immediately by a crab which happened to 
be clinging to the branch. Naturally the crab held on, 
and had almost pulled the hair out of the man's head 
before he was rescued. 

The intelligence shown by these crabs is remark- 
able. They climb the palms, bite off a nut and allow 
it to drop, and thus break it open ; and if they find a 



ig2 THE ISLAND WORLD 

nut on the ground, they have been known to take it to 
the top of a tree and hurl it to the ground. Others, 
and generally the large ones, have been observed to 
beat it against a rock, and so break the shell. They 
invariably commence to tear away the husk at the end 
upon which is situated the X^no holes. When this is 
done, with the great claw, they hammer the holes until 
an opening is made, and then the body is twisted 
around, and one of the small hind legs that will just 
fit is introduced, the meat taken out bit by bit, and 
then the shell is broken. 

The crab is certainly a lowly creature, but it is 
remarkably intelligent in some ways, and also cunning. 
If you have ever tried to catch a wild lobster, you are 
aware how many wiles they have to effect their escape 
or delude their pursuers. 

Some years ago the question was raised in Lon- 
don, whether crabs remained in the same locality year 
after year, and finally it was resolved to test the ques- 
tion. So about a thousand crabs were cauoflit and 
marked in various ways, and taken a distance of twenty 
miles, and put overboard, and in less than a week 
hundreds of these marked crabs were caught on their 



own grounds. 



PLANTAIN OR BANANA. 



Of this fruit Humboldt says: I doubt whether 
there be any other plant that produces so great a 
(quantity of nutritive substance in so small a space. 
Eight or nine months after the sucker is planted, it 
begins to develop its cluster. The fruit may be gath- 
ered in the tenth or eleventh month. When the stock 
is cut there is always found, among the numerous 
shoots that have taken root, a sprout, being two-thirds 




TEA PLANT OF CHINA — IN FULL BLOOM. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 



193 



tlic height of its parent plant, and bearing fruit three 
months later. Thus a plantation of bananas perpetu- 
ates itself without requiring any care on the part of 
man, further than to cut the stalks when the fruit has 
ripened, and to stir the earth gently once or twice a 
year about the roots. A piece of ground of one hun- 
dred square metres of surface will contain from- thirty 
to forty plants. During the course of the year, the 
same piece of ground (reckoning the weight of the 
cluster at from fifteen to twenty kilogrammes only) 
will yield 2,000 kilogrammes, or more than 4,000 
pounds, of nutritive substance. What a difference be- 
tween this product and that of the cereal grasses in 
most parts of Europe ! The same extent of land plan- 
ted with wheat would not produce above thirty pounds, 
and not more than ninety pounds of potatoes. Hence 
the product of the banana is to that of wheat as 133 to 
I, and to that of potatoes as 44 to i. The banana 
forms the principal food of these, as well as many other 
tropical countries, and the apathy and indolence of the 
natives in the tierras calientes, or hot regions, has been 
ascribed — and probably with good reason — to the fa- 
cility with which it supplies them with a means of 
subsistence. 

Again, the fruit is dried and pressed, after which 
it can be kept for a long time, forming a food not in- 
ferior to the dried figs of commerce. 

BECHE-DE-MER FISHING. 

In regard to the traffic in Beche-de-mer, for which 
there is such a demand in China and Japan, I have 
thought best to quote from Mr. H. B. Sterndale, who 
some years ago wrote many interesting papers on the 
islands of the Pacific: 



194 'THE ISLAND WORLD 

Beche-de-mer, called by die Chinese Tripang, 
and by the Polynesian, Rodi, and in the South Sea and 
Caroline group, Menika, is of that species of mol- 
lusc classed as the HolotJmrides. It has the appear- 
ance of a great slug or leech, and like most other 
marine animals of the same type, lives by process of 
suction upon microscopic animalculses. It has the 
form of an elongated sac of a gristly consistence, tra- 
versed internally by strong muscles. It grows usually 
to about eighteen inches long and somewhat less in 
circumference. The labor of collecting and drying 
the fish is performed partly by the crews of the ves- 
sels engaged in this business, who are commonly Poly- 
nesian natives, with the exception of the mate or 
trading master or interpreter, and such islanders as 
they bring along with them, if it be a desert or unin- 
habited place, or otherwise the aborigines whom they 
find in possession. There is one advantage in beche- 
de-mer fishing that upon the great desert reefs where 
it most abounds the fishers never need be idle. In 
calm weather they gather the red kind off the top 
of the reef just inside the foam of the breakers. 
In stormy times they dive for the black kind inside 
the lagoons. 

METHOD OF FISHING. 

From its size and color, it is plainly visible to a 
depth of at least ten fathoms, even when the water is 
much ruffled by the winds — the more so as it lives on 
the smooth white sandy bottom. The material re- 
quired for the prosecution of this business is of the 
most limited character, merely a boat, a few axes to 
cut building material and fire-wood, a supply of long 
knives for all hands, and in some cases two or three 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN igs 

try-pots, such as are used on board of whale -ships, with 
buckets and skiice-forks. The first preliminary ope- 
ration is to build two houses — one for the curing of 
the fish, which is done by smoking, as bacon is cured 
in our own country ; the other, for the purpose of 
storing it after being sufficiently cured. 

When in proper condition it brings readily in 
China or Japan five to six hundred dollars per ton, 
with hardly a limit to supply or demand. 

CONTRACTS WITH THE NATIVES. 

The terms upon which the laborers are engaged 
for beche-de-mer fishing depends upon the circum- 
stances of the case. "Beach-combers," who have na- 
tive wives and families, commonly make up a party 
of their wives' relations and near neighbors, and re- 
munerate them for their work by sharing a part of 
the proceeds. Adventurers who sail small vessels, 
and have no settled home on the islands to which the 
laborers belong, hire them for a specified time at a fixed 
rate of wages, under a written agreement, which is 
witnessed by their chief or king. Although in the 
majority of cases no one understands the document 
but the white men concerned in its concoction, yet 
the most ignorant of these natives are pleased to see 
a promise written down, there being to their untutored 
minds something sacred and binding connected with 
the operation. Here follow^s a verbatim translation of 
a memorandum of this kind between one "Uroroa" 
(that is Longbeard, a w^hite man known to the na- 
tives by that name, as Polynesians generally invent a 
name from some physical peculiarity for any Euro- 
pean whom they have dealings with) and certain peo- 
ple of Nukinivano: 



ige THE ISLAND WORLD 

"We, men and women of Nukinivano, whose 
marks are put at the bottom of this paper, agree to 
go with the captain Longbeard to the island of Gan- 
net Cay, and to fish for beche-de-mer for six moons, 
and to be paid each man or woman fourteen fathoms 
of caHco, or twenty-one plugs of tobacco per moon, 
or other things as we like, such as knives or needles, 
at a value as we have before agreed ; and at the end 
of six moons, to be returned to our home, if the wind 
should be fair for us to come back at that time. 
The chief, whose name is Dogfish, shall superintend 
the work. The captain Longbeard, shall tell the 
chief Dogfish, what the people are to do, and Dog- 
fish shall tell the people. The captain Longbeard, 
shall not beat any of the people. The people shall 
not fight among themselves, but if there be any quar- 
rel among them, they shall refer it to the captain 
Longbeard and the chief Dogfish. If any one of the 
people die, that which is due him or her shall be en- 
trusted to the chief Dogfish, to be given to his or her 
family. The captain Longbeard shall supply to all 
the people, for nothing, lines and fish-hooks, that they 
may catch themselves food. All food and fresh water 
shall be taken charge of and fairly divided by the chief 
Dogfish. Twenty-eight days shall count for each 
moon ; out of each moon, shall be four days' rest, 
that is to say, the people shall work six days, and on 
the seventh day they shall do no work. They shall 
not lie to the chief Dogfish, or be lazy, sulky or dis- 
satisfied. There is no more to say." 

Here follow the names of the people, with their 
marks. The contract they will keep to the letter, not 
only performing the duties imposed upon them, but 
adding deeds of bravery, kindness, and an obedience to 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 197 

the orders of their employers, that might be copied 
with great benefit in more civiHzed lands. 



coco AN UT. 

One of the great sustaining products of nearly all the 
groups of the Pacific is the fruit of thecocoanut tree (cocus 
nuciferd), a species of the palm. The cocoanut is so 
well known that but a passing allusion seems all that 
is necessary. Yet its manifold uses, with that of the 
tree on which it grows, if described at any length, 
would fill a volume. In these latitudes it has a very 
luxuriant growth, and gives to the lazy natives a never 
ending supply, and at all times of the year something 
to eat, drink and wear, with abundant material for 
clothing and shelter. It may be found growing in the 
valleys, on the hill and mountain sides and tops, and 
on reefs and sandy shores, with its roots. laved by the 
waters of the sea. It grows to a height of sixty or one 
hundred feet, from one foot to two feet in diameter, 
bearing fruit seven years after it is planted, and lives 
about eighty years. Each tree furnishes a hundred or 
more nuts a year, while a wise provision of nature so 
arranges it that the natives may find the nut in all of 
its many stages of progress before ripening, and all on 
the same tree. The nut, when fully ripe and ready to 
fall, is covered with a thick fibre, that prevents it from 
breaking^ or burstincr when it strikes the irround. 
From the upper end grows a flag or tuft that guides it 
in its descent, and causes it to rest with its proper end 
down, ready to take root and reproduce its species. 
Again, this fibrous covering is impervious to water, 
and should the nut fall in or be carried by the waves 
or surf out to sea, it drifts and floats with the currents, 



igS THE ISLAND WORLD 

winds or tides, until cast upon some distant island, reef 
or beach, to take root and grow, very often furnishing 
subsistence and shelter to unfortunate castaways upon 
otherwise barren islands. 



TRADE IN, AND VALUE OF, THE NUT. 

An immense trade has been carried on for years 
with China, Japan and Europe, in the preparation, 
shipment and manufacture of cocoanut oil. For this 
purpose the nuts are gathered, the covering taken off, 
when they are piled in great heaps on rude platforms 
about a foot above the ground. This is to prevent the 
absorption of moisture from the earth, and consequent 
germination. The nuts are allowed to remain in this 
condition for several months, with frequent turnings 
and handling. After drying sufficiently (ascertained 
by average samples taken from the heaps), they are 
broken open, and the "copra," or dried coc6anut ker- 
nel, is ready for shipment. In Europe it is consumed 
in great quantities, the copra being pressed by ma- 
chinery much like that used in extracting oil from flax- 
seed, the residuum being in the form of flaxseed cake, 
and sold all through Europe as a valuable food for cattle. 
For this latter reason, it has been found more profita- 
ble to ship in the form described, in preference to ex- 
tracting the oil at the islands. 

It is not an over-estimate to suppose that in a co- 
coanut plantation the trees will number sixty-four to 
the acre, within a fraction of twenty feet apart, and 
that each tree will produce one hundred nuts per an- 
num. These will produce copra equal to five 
hundred pounds per thousand, and from this, again, 
twenty-five gallons of cocoanut oil can be, pressed, 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 199 

worth about sixty cents per gallon. At this rate, a 
cocoanut plantation would produce, of oil alone, very 
near ^100 per acre per annum. 

Some idea may be formed of the varied uses to 
which the cocoanut tree and fruit are put, when it is 
known that as many as thirty articles manufactured 
from them may be found in one ordinary English 
home. Where fabrics are not altogether made from 
the fibre, it yet enters in with other material. The oil 
is used in many ways, forming one of the principal in- 
gredients in fine soaps and other similar manufactures. 
The fruit, while by itself considered by many a great 
delicacy, in combination forms an important ingredient 
in our pastries and candies. 

The tree, when tapped, furnishes a pleasant, 
healthful drink, known as cocoanut toddy. Modern 
processes, though, have made this fluid into a rum, 
called arrack, and said to be very satisfactory to old 
drinkers in the way of strength and brain-entangling 
qualities. 

CORAL (CORALLUM). 

up to 1 75 1, the theory that coral was a vegetable 
growth (disputed by Feranto Imperato, the Neapolitan 
naturalist, as early as 1599) had been generally ac- 
cepted. Even its scientific name, as applied to-day 
(zoophyte), given by Linnaeus, indicates the struggle 
that sometimes takes place to throw light even into 
scientific minds. The name would place It In both the 
animal and vegetable kingdom, forming a rather curi- 
ous combination for the industrious litde insect to work 
under. In truth, coral is the stony frame which be- 
longs to these animals, as a skeleton belongs to an 
individual of the higher orders of the animal kingdom. 



200 THE ISLAND WORLD 

The coral which has obtained world-wide celeb- 
rity, is that used as jewelry, known as corallum rubrum, 
found in the Mediterranean, the Barbary coast, the 
coast of Italy, and in some parts of Europe and America. 

In general, the coral of the Pacific cannot be con- 
sidered as valuable for jewelry, the order being of the 
coarser kind — curious and beautiful in its varied color- 
ings and forms, but of no great intrinsic value — if we 
except a kind found along the shores of the island of 
Sumatra, and as we approach the Indian Ocean. 

In the olden time, the manner of fishing for coral 
was nearly the same everywhere. That which is most 
commonly practiced in the Mediterranean Sea is as fol- 
lows : Seven or eight men go in a boat, commanded 
by the proprietor ; the caster throws his net (if we may 
so call the machine which he uses to tear up the coral 
from the bottom of the sea), and the rest work the 
boat and help draw in the net. This is composed of 
two beams of wood tied crosswise, with leads fixed to 
them to sink them ; to these beams is fastened a quan- 
tity of hemp, twisted loosely round and intermingled 
with some loose netting. In this condition the machine 
is let down into the sea, and when the coral is pretty 
strongly entwined in the hemp and nets, they draw it 
up with a rope, which they imwind according to the 
depth, and which it sometimes requires half-a-dozen 
boats to draw. If this rope happens to break, the 
fishermen run the hazard of beino- lost. Before the 
fishers go to sea, they agree for the price of the coral, 
and the produce of the fishery is divided, at the end of 
the season, into thirteen parts, of which the proprietor 
has four, the caster two, and the other six men one 
each; the thirteenth belongs to the company for the 
payment of boat hire, etc. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 201 



CHAPTER XIV. 



ISLrAI^D PRODUCTS A]?«(I> RHSOVRCHS. 



Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm, 
A sylvan scene, and as the ranks ascend 
Shade above shade, a woody theatre 
Of stateliest view. 

Milton, [Paradise Lost). 

PAPER (papyrus). 

IT has often been a subject of wonder with those 
learned and ingenious persons who have written con- 
cerning- the arts of the ancient world, that the Greeks 
and Romans, although they possessed a prodigious 
number of books, and approached very near to print- 
ing in the stamping words and letters and similar de- 
vices, should not have fallen upon the art ; the first 
rude attempts at typography being sufficiently obvious, 
though much time and contrivance have been required 
to bring the process to the perfection in which it now 
prevails. 

We owe the introduction of paper into Europe to 
the Arabians or Moors. There is some uncertainty as 
to the precise era of its first appearance, and we are 
unable to trace the origin of the precious invention, or 
even to imagine by what steps men were led to it. We 
cannot conceive how anyone could be tempted to 



202 THE ISLAND WORLD 

pound wet rags in a mortar, to stir the paste into a 
large body of water, to receive the deposit on a sieve, 
and to press and dry it. The labor of beating rags 
into a pulp by hand would be as hopeless as it would 
be tedious and severe. It is true that paper was orig- 
inally made of cotton, a substance less obstinate than 
linen and other rags, which are now commonly used. At 
present the fresh rags are torn into pieces by a powerful 
mill ; formerly it was the practice to suffer them to rot, to 
place themi in large heaps in a warm and damp situa- 
tion, and to allow them to heat and ferment, and to 
remain undisturbed until mushrooms began to grow on 
them — so that, being partially decayed, it might be less 
difficult to triturate them. Nevertheless, the invention 
of paper is . a mystery. The Chinese possessed the 
art of making paper and of printing, but we know not 
how long they have had them, nor whether the Moham- 
medans learned the former from them. The illiterate 
inhabitants of some of the islands of the South Seas 
were able to compose a species of paper, which they 
used in fine weather for raiment, of the bark of trees. 
The basis of paper being the vegetable fibre, it has 
been made of various substances, as straw, as well as 
rags. 

(Notes from an old History of Paper-making.) 

To describe the methods now in use for the man- 
ufacture of paper, with an account of the perfect ma- 
chinery, taking place of human hands, in the various 
manipulations to turn out the beautiful paper now 
met with in nearly all parts of the world, would take 
up a volume. On the other hand, with all our per- 
fect manufacturing appliances, we lack the natural 
vegetable growths of just those piths, pulps and 
barks, that nature so abundantly scatters broadcast 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 203 

throughout the islands of the Pacific. Paper ex- 
hibited at the last Exposition in Paris, manufactured 
in Japan, It is said from the bark of the mulberry, 
being In truth the Broussonetia, the Paper Mulberry 
of Japan, the East Indies and the South Sea Islands, 
excited general admiration. Paper from that country 
that I have inspected very lately in San Francisco, is 
far superior in texture, beauty and durability, to any 
of the brands made from English linen. Samples 
from the Phillippine Islands, made from the abaca, and 
others of the musa (banana) plants, show fully as fine 
and strong a texture, but lacking the satiny gloss of 
surface, like watered silk, seen in the samples from 
Japan. The vegetable growth furnishing the textile 
fabrics in all its many varieties. Is to be found In wild 
abundance on nearly all of the Pacific islands. The 
gathering of the raw material, and Its export to Eu- 
rope and America for its more perfect manufacture 
into the manifold forms of paper, would naturally 
lead to a vast business In the textile fabrics alone, that 
would result in many profitable Industries. 

CINNAMON (CINNAMOMUM ZEYLANICUM). 

Cinnamon is of the same species as the laurel. 
The tree is of small growth, and evergreen. In 
the island of Ceylon, where the finest qualities are 
produced, it Is cultivated in a large way, and forms no 
inconsiderable portion of the princely revenues received 
from the products of that island. It Is claimed by many 
authorities to be indigenous to the soil of Ceylon. In 
any event, the product Is far superior to that of any other 
part of the world, although many of the Island groups 
cultivate and produce It in abundance, but of much 



204 THE ISLAND WORLD 

inferior quality. The gardens where the best cinna- 
mon is grown are managed on the coppice system, 
the tree being cut down almost to the roots, and the 
young shoots, some six or eight only, allowed to grow. 
At the age of two years the shoots have reached a 
height of about six feet, with a diameter from one 
to two inches. These are cut, and the bark peeled 
off, being afterwards cleaned and scraped, when it is 
rolled and dried, tied in bundles, and is then ready for 
the market. 

The ordinary cinnamon as we find it in the marts 
of America, is cassia bark, a species of the cinnamo- 
mum, grown extensively in China, Japan and all the 
islands of the Eastern Archipelago. It is sold in im- 
mense quantities, particularly after it has been ground, 
when it is hard to distinguish it from the true spice. 

INDIGO. 

Another of the valuable plants having indigenous 
growth in the island groups of the Pacific, particularly 
in Japan, the Phillippines and Java, is indigo. De- 
rived from the maceration in water of the leaves and 
twigs of the plant, hidigofera tinctoria, and the In- 
digofera Anil, with its after precipitation from the 
liquid form into that met with in commerce, it may 
be justly termed one of the valuable island products. 
The indigo from the island of Java, the result of 
the rude methods of manufacture resorted to by the 
natives, is the finest in the world, the plant seeming 
to thrive best when of island growth. Its manifold 
uses as a drug, as well as in the arts, together with 
the rather complicated processes necessary for its ex- 
traction from the plant, would require at least a sepa- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 205 

rate chapter. As a product of the island world, it is 
of considerable importance. 



TEAK WOOD. 

Among the many valuable trees, growing so 
profusely on the Islands of the Pacific, may be cited 
Teak, or Indian Oak, the product of the Tectona 
gratidis, a large forest tree,- growing in the dry and 
elevated districts in the south of India, the Burman 
empire, Ava, Siam, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, New 
Guinea, etc. Teak is by far the best timber in the 
East; it works easily, and though porous, is strong 
and durable. It is easily seasoned, and shrinks very 
little. It is of an oily nature, and therefore does not 
injure iron. Mr. Crawford says that in comparing 
teak and oak together, the useful qualities of the 
former will be found to preponderate. It is equally 
strong, and somewhat more buoyant. Its durability 
is more uniform and decided ; and to insure that 
durability, it demands less care and preparation, for 
it may be put into use almost green from the forest, 
without danger of dry or wet rot. It is fit to endure 
all climates and all alternations of climate. The teak 
of Malabar, produced on the high table land of the 
south of India, is deemed the best of any. It is the 
closest in its fiber, and contains the largest quantity of 
oil, being at once the heaviest and most durable. This 
species of teak is used for the keel, timbers, and such 
parts of the ship as are under water ; owing to its great 
weight, it is less suitable for the upper works, and is 
not at all fit for spars. The teak of Java ranks next 
to that of Malabar, and is especially suitable for 
planking. That of Sumatra, Borneo, New Guinea, 



2o6 THE ISLAND WORLD 

etc., are of equal value, and their great forests teem 
with such an abundance as to be able to supply 
the ship-building material for the navies of the world. 
The Rangoon or Burman teak, and that of Siam is 
not so close grained and durable as the others. It is, 
however, more buoyant, and therefore, best suited 
for masts and spars. Malabar teak is extensively 
used in the building-yards of Bombay. Ships built 
wholly of it are almost indestructible by ordinary 
wear and tear, and instances are not rare of their 
having lasted from eighty to a hundred years ; although 
they are said to sail indifferently, but this is probably 
owing to some defect in their construction, and not to 
the weight of the timber. Calcutta ships are never 
wholly built of teak ; the timbers and frame-work are 
always of native wood, and the planking and deck 
only of teak. With this timber, in combination with 
the pine of Oregon and the redwood of California, 
vessels could no doubt be constructed superior to 
anything being built in our ship-yards at the present 
time. 

RICE. 

One of the great food staples of India, China, 
Japan, and the westerly islands of the Pacific, is rice. 
It is among the most valuable of cereal grasses — the 
oryza sativa of botanists. It forms the principal part 
of the food of the most civilized and populous Eastern 
nations, being more extensively consumed for that 
purpose by the people of those countries, than any 
other species of grain. It is too well known to require 
more than a place here as a product. The quality of 
the grain grown is not equal to that produced on the 
low, marshy grounds in the Carolinas of America — it 
having no equal. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 207 

SILK (sERICUM). 

The art of rearing silk-worms, a species of cater- 
pillar or larvae of the genus phalcBna, and of unravel- 
ing the threads spun by them in forming their cocoons, 
dates away back in the dim pages of Chinese histor)^ 
Its first introduction from China into Rome was about 
the time of Pompey and Julius Caesar. The great dis- 
tance of China from Rome, the journeys of the cara- 
vans overland through the Persian Empire, caused a 
high price to be placed on silk, bringing in the earlier 
periods its weight in gold. The art of rearing the 
worms gradually extende.d over the countries of Eu- 
rope, being introduced in France under the reign of 
Louis XI in 1480, and into England at about the same 
period. The manufacture of silk was begun in Lyons 
in 1520, under Francis I. The art gradually extended 
itself over France, and in such esteem were its promo- 
ters held, that silk manufacturers who had pursued the 
trade for a period of twelve years were rewarded with 
a patent of nobilty by Henry IV, 

Rearing the silk-worm, with the cultivation of the 
mulberry (ino7^acece) tree in its many varieties — the 
leaves of which serve as food for the worm — has been 
reduced to a fine art in India, China, Japan, the Phil- 
lippines, and some of the islands of the Eastern Archi- 
pelago, and other islands of the South Sea, forming 
one of the most valyable productions of those places, 
and forms no inconsiderable portion of our commerce 
with the localities named. 

PINEAPPLE (aNANASSA SATIVa). 

This delicious fruit is native to most of the tropi- 
cal islands of the South Sea, and like that grown in 



2o8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

the hot-houses of England and America, its quaHty as 
a fruit is altogether dependent upon the care exercised 
in its cultivation. In its wild state, about the only con- 
dition in which it produces a reproductive seed, it is 
hardly ever sought after as a food, but rather for the 
long, fine fiber contained in the leaves. There are as 
many as fifty varieties, not all of them bearing a pala- 
table fruit, even when cultivated. That thought the 
most of, in the Phillippine Islands — not as a fruit, but 
for its fiber-producing qualities — grows in the wild 
state, and is known to botanists as the Broiitelia pin- 
gum. This particular plant throws out leaves from 
three to sometimes eight feet long, which abound in 
fiber of great strength and durabilit}^ in the older 
plants, while in the leaves of the younger growth a 
fiber is found that the natives work into all the delicate 
forms, gossamer and cobweb like, and in such delicate 
and beautiful designs as not only to always astonish 
the traveler, but to invariably bring, when in the form 
of veils, handkerchiefs, etc., many times their weight 
in gold. 

MANILLA HEMP. 

The textile fiber of the abaca palm, of the famih' 
of mtLsas, to which the banana and plantain belong, is 
found native in a great many of the island groups of 
the South Sea, but probably is better known and grows 
in greater luxuriance in the Phillippines, where the 
manifold uses the fiber is put to, in the manufacture of 
the most delicate laces, veils, handkerchiefs, to the 
coarsest cables used by ships, has made the name of 
the hemp world-wide. The thousands of tons of the 
raw material shipped from the Phillippines every year, 
and to nearly every part of the world, bear evidence 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 209 

as to its value and the continually increasing demand 
for the fiber. The luxuriance of plant growth through- 
out the islands of the Pacific, may yet be taxed to sup- 
ply the growing demands of the world, for products 
lavished by nature on these sunny lands. From this 
same and kindred plants, a great quantity of paper is 
made, and the fiber Is spun and woven alike by the 
natives into a superior cloth for clothing, or into a 
heavier material for sails, mats, bagging, etc. 

PEPPER (piper). 

The fruit of the climbing shrub or vine [piper 
nigrum) is native and cultivated in many of the tropical 
countries. Although a spice, apparently used In small 
quantities, yet in the aggregate, thousands of tons of 
it are produced and exported from the Pacific islands 
each year. 

Java, Borneo, Sumatra, the Philllppines and the 
Molluccas furnish the little pungent berry In abun- 
dance. Where not native in the grand old forests of 
the islands, or when not supported by trees, the plant 
is cultivated in a manner very similar to our hop fields. 
The black and white varieties are the product of the 
same plant, the latter simply being put through a 
bleaching process, in water or by chemicals, and re- 
sults in the white pepper of commerce. Pepper is 
not at all a product of the South American pepper 
tree, much used in our country for shade and orna- 
ment; the berry produced being similar in appearance 
to that of the pepper plant, together with the name, 
the erroneous impression sometimes prevails that the 
pungent product Is from this tree. The effect of the 
pepper tree berry on the system is somewhat different 



2IO THE ISLAND WORLD 

from that of the true pepper. Red pepper, also a 
great island product, is from the plant — genus solana- 
cece, or nightshade family, and is grown in all parts of 
the world. It Is native to tropical countries, and in the 
islands of the Pacific grows in the greatest luxuriance. 
After ripening on the plant, it is picked, dried and 
ground, furnishing the Cayenne pepper of commerce. 

GUTTA PERCHA. 

Gutta Percha is the name given by the Malays to 
the tree belonging to the natural order sapotacece, and 
to the newer genus isonandra, is found in the greatest 
abundance in the forests of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, 
and, in fact, throughout nearly all of the island groups 
where the forestry is abundant. The tree ranges from 
two to eight feet in diameter, and reaches a height of 
sixty to eighty feet. The timber Is of great value, 
and Is used by the Malays in many of their manufac- 
tures. The sap from the tree, after being reduced to 
the form of a gum, with its valuable property of be- 
coming plastic in hot water, so that it can be molded 
up into any form, retaining the shape when cooled, 
was known to the Malays probably for ages. This 
property, from which so many useful advantages have 
been derived, seems to have remained unknown to 
our people until about 1842 and '43, when specimens 
of the gum were forwarded to England, and some 
time transpired before it was brought into practical 
use. Gutta percha differs very materially from India 
rubber (also one of the bounteous products of 
the islands), in being elastic only in a very slight 
degree. The plants are very different. The India 
rubber, although growing a foot or so In dlame- 



c^ 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 211 

ter, grows like a vine, and is often found twined 
around or clinging to the trees of the great Island 
forests. Again, there is the important difference in 
the two gums, that rubber requires a chemical prep- 
aration with some of the earths, or to be mixed with 
certain proportions of metallic oxides, to make it 
harder after heating and molding, before it will retain 
the shape desired, becoming then vulcanized rubber. 

SCREW PINE (PANDANUS). 

This tree, much valued in the Pacific, is native to 
most of the islands, where it grows in the greatest 
abundance. It is among the first of the plants to ap- 
pear on newly formed or forming islands, and with its 
spreading roots, often raised above the ground and 
supporting the main trunk on their stems, it acts as 
a dam and barrier to encroaching waves, and per- 
forms an important part in collecting and retaining 
the drift and debris, that assists so materially in the 
first plant growth of islands. Its leaves, growing 
generally from the ends of the main branches, spread- 
ing from the trunk, grow similar to those of the pine- 
apple, whence its name ; but unlike the latter, it is a 
tree growing from twelve to forty feet high. The 
many ways that the bark, timber and the strong fiber 
of its leaves can be used, makes it highly prized by the 
natives. 

RESINOUS GUM TREES. 

The great forests of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Cele- 
bes, New Guinea, etc., teem with an almost endless va- 
riety of trees that furnish the liquid resins so valuable 
as a base for our varnishes, while the ground itself 



212 THE ISLAND WORLD 

supplies many forms of the oxidized fossil kinds, 
such as copal, amber and others. From the Fiji 
Islands, where the natives use a liquid resin as a 
coating or glaze for their pottery, to the more ad- 
vanced usages of the Japanese, in their beautiful 
lacquer ware, also the results of resinous products, a 
vast field in this line alone is spread out, offering 
ample room for -the employment of the capital, en- 
terprise and skill of thousands of our unemployed 
people. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

In glancing with me in this general way at some 
of the valuable island products, the intelligent reader 
will no doubt agree with me in the assertion that it is 
but a glance. That a volume could be written on 
valuable products alone, and still another on their 
manifold uses, and again another on the mechanical 
appliances necessary for their more perfect manipula- 
tion in manufactories. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 213 



CHAPTER XV. 



OCHAI«(IC KXHP^OORAPinr. 



See him from nature rising slow to Art ! 
To copy instinct then was reason's part : 
Thus then to man the voice of nature spake — 
Go, from the creatures thy instructions take ; 
Learn from the birds what food the thickets yield, 
Learn from the beasts the physics of the field, 
Thy arts of building from the bee receive ; 
Learn of the mole to plough, the worm to weave, 
Learn from the little Nautilus to sail. 
Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale. 

Pope {Essay on Man). 

OCEANIC RACES. 

WE shall use the term Oceanica in the sense in 
which it is applied by many writers on Eth- 
nography, as describing all the land comprised 
between the coasts of Asia and America, including the 
East Indian Archipelago, the many smaller clusters of 
the Pacific, and the continent of New Holland. 

The whole subject of the distinctions in race 
among the wild inhabitants who have settled on these 
countless islands — the "nomads of the sea," as Profes- 
sor Muller calls them — is even more intricate and in- 
volved than the differences among the nomads of the 
land. The languages of many of the tribes have never 
even been compared, and some of them are scarcely 



214 THE ISLAND WORLD 

known at all ; so that all conclusions must necessarily, 
as yet, be very doubtful, and liable to much change 
hereafter. 

There are at least two very different schools on 
this subject, each represented by high authority. One 
led by the celebrated William von Humboldt, assigns 
but two, or at most three, races of men to this immense 
range of Inhabitable land — namely, the Malay, the Po- 
lynesian, and a race of Oriental negroes. 

The other, represented by a scholar of great abil- 
ity, Mr. J. Crawford, divides the inhabitants of Ocean- 
Ica Into five brown races, with lank hair, distinguished 
by varieties of language, and eight races of Oriental 
negroes. The tendency, however, of all late Investi- 
gation, Is* toward the unity of these varieties, and mod- 
ern conclusions approach those of Humboldt much 
more than those of Crawford. 

Oceanica may be divided Into five great divisions : 
Malaisia, or the East Indian Islands, together with the 
peninsula of Mallacca, Inhabited by the Malay race. 
Of these islands, the most prominent are Sumatra, 
Java, Borneo, Celebes, Mollucca, Sooloo, and the Phll- 
llpplnes. 

Melanasia are the Islands Inhabited by a dark race 
with woolly or frizzled hair, comprising New 
Guinea, Aroo, Mysol and others, together with New 
Britain, New Ireland, the Solomon Isles, and New 
Hebrides. 

Australia, or New Holland, a vast Island, sparsely 
peopled by a black race with straight, smooth hair. 

Micronesia, a long range of little groups of islands 
and strips of coral rock In the North Pacific, east of the 
Phlllipplnes, including the Pelew, Caroline, Ladrone, 
Bonabe, and numerous other islands, from 132 deg. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 215 

east longitude to 178 deg. west, and from 21 deg. north 
latitude to 5 deg. south. 

Polynesia, or the islands in the East Pacific, occu- 
pied by a race kindred to the Malay, of which the best 
known are the Navigators, the Friendly, Society and 
Sandwich Islands, together with New Zealand. 

The great natural peculiarities of this quarter of 
the globe, which have determined the divisions of race 
and family, have been Its insular character, the perio- 
dicity of Its winds, and the malarious climate of some 
of the islands ; while the existence of a people on its 
western border, with a highly flexible and euphonious 
language, and gifted with much enterprise (the Malay 
race), has affected the ruling stock through all this 
wide region. These nomads of the sea, whenever 
desiring adventure or seeking commerce or plunder, or 
driven forth by defeat or hunger, had only to put 
themselves and wives, with their few utensils, Into their 
light canoes, and trust themselves to the prevailing 
trade winds, and they were certain finally to land on 
some new island, where they could either intermingle 
with the old Inhabitants or form a new community. It 
is thus that the almost countless Islands, from the Phll- 
llpplnes to Easter Island, through eight thousand miles 
of ocean, were peopled by a similar race. 

There were certain of the Islands which only ad- 
mitted of the habitation of the black tribes, owing to 
the highly malarious character of the climate, and upon 
them especially these tribes are found. 

CLIMATE. 

The climate has probably protected them against 
the assaults of the more organized nations. Whether 



2i6 ' THE ISLAND WORLD 

they were the orighial settlers is impossible to deter- 
mine. Their usual position, on the mountains in the 
interior of an island, would indicate an earlier habita- 
tion. Possibly, as some ethnologists have supposed, 
their appearance here may date back to an immense 
antiquity — before all the islands were separated one 
from another or from the Asiatic continent j'^' while 
their color and power of resisting malarious influences 
may be due to the gradual accumulation and trans- 
mission of advantageous changes, adapting them to 
their circumstances through vastly extended periods 
of time. 

Judging from the gradual change in language and 
customs, as well as from other indications, the great 
movement of the Oceanican people must have been 
from the west to the east — against the prevailing trade 
wind; and no investigations show that even now, at 
peculiar seasons of the year, there are regular winds 
blowing from the west which drift the natives hundreds 
and thousands of miles. 

One great link has perhaps been discovered by 
Professor Muller and others, showing the connection 
between the nomads of the sea and the nomads of the 
land, in their investigations into the Tai and Malay 
languages. ''*• * '^ These generic expo- 

nents or numerical affixes are entirely peculiar to those 
languages. Many other evidences are adduced of the 
relation between the languages of the islands and the 
Asiatic continent; so that, if this vast connection be 
fairly established, the language of a vast portion of 
Oceanica may be included in the great Turanian family. 

*Both Dana and Hale notice evidence of a gradual subsidence of 
the land, even in the historic period; the ruins of temples on Bonab^, 
for instance, being found partly^submerged by the sea. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 217 

' THE MALAYS. 

Besides the large islands, which have already been 
spoken of as occupied by this family, they hold also 
the small islands south of the Phillippines, up to the 
west coast of New Guinea, and those on the east 
point of Java and Sumatra, up to the Straits of Mal- 
lacca. Their language, which is found purest on the 
Phillippines, is one of the most widely extended of 
Asia, traces of it being discovered from Madagascar 
to Easter Island, and from Formosa to New Zealand, 
over 70 deg. of latitude and 200 deg. of longitude. 
This race has for ages possessed the knowledge of 
letters, worked metals and domesticated useful ani- 
mals, and has led the commerce and enterprise of 
the Pacific Ocean. The flexibility of its tongue has 
made it everywhere the medium of communication, 
and even in Madagascar, at 3,000 miles distance, 
Malay words form one-fifty-seventh of the vocabulary 
of the islanders. The Malay conquest and settle- 
ments after the remote emigration from the continent, 
are supposed by Crawford to have begun from the 
center of Sumatra, and to have extended from the 
Malay peninsula and the coasts of Borneo. Their 
influence was only excluded from two quarters by 
different causes — from the Asiatic shores, by the su- 
perior Chinese civilization already prevailing there, 
and from Australia, by the great degradation of its 
inhabitants. Physical objects alone prevented their 
reaching the coasts of America. The Malay language 
shows that it has been acted upon by both Indian and 
Chinese influences. 

The Malay bodily type is described by Prichard 
as Indo-Chinese. The nose is short, but not flat, the 



2i8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

mouth large and lips thin, cheek bones high, and face 
broadest at that point, the complexion yellowish. 
The form is squat, and height only about five feet 
three or four inches. 



THE POLYNESIANS. 

The second great race, of similar physical struc- 
ture and language with the Malays, and undoubtedly 
of the same origin, are the Polynesians. The islands 
especially occupied by this people are those lying be- 
tween New Zealand and Easter Isle, north, up to the 
Sandwich Islands, and west, as far as the Fiji and New 
Hebrides. Mixtures of this with other races are 
found all over the islands of the Pacific. They were 
for centuries a half civilized people, and have pos- 
sessed a well established government, together with 
reliofious doctrines and usaofes, and a sacred lanoj-uaofe 
unintelligible to the people, as well as a system of 
ecclesiastical authority. They exhibited skill in vari- 
ous arts, and were bold and experienced sailors. 
They had no writing, but possessed many legends 
and traditional poetry. Yet they and their kindred, 
the Malay race, have the infamy of being the prin- 
cipal and almost the only race indulging habitually in 
canibalism. 

Physically, the Polynesians are placed among the 
class of light-brown complexion verging to white. 
They are described by Hale as above the middle 
height, well formed, with thick, strong, black hair, 
slightly curled, and scanty beard; the head short 
and broad, and higher than most races in their stage 
of development, with a remarkably flat posterior 
head, like that of the American Indians. In disposi- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 219 

tion they are represented as good-humored and fickle, 
and very ready to adopt new usages. 

The Polynesian language, Hale supposes to spread 
especially from Bouru, the easternmost of the Malay 
islands. 

The whole number of the Polynesians proper is 
less than 500,000. 

From the evidence of language, Mr. Crawford 
concluded that there was, in the ante-historic times, 
a great Polynesian nation, whose speech lies at the 
basis of all the various Malay and Polynesian lan- 
guages at the present day. This people — judging 
from the records preserved in the words they have 
transmitted — had made some progress in agriculture, 
and understood the use of gold and iron ; were 
clothed with a fabric made of the fibrous bark oi 
plants, which they wove in the loom, while knowing 
nothing of the manufacture of cotton, which they ac- 
quired afterward from India. They had tamed the 
cow and buffalo, and possessed and fed upon the hog, 
the domestic fowl and the duck. 

The massive ruins and remains of pyramidal 
structures and terraced buildings on the Pacific Islands, 
are probably from this primeval race. 

THE MICRONESIANS. 

Micronesia, as was before stated, embraces a long 
range of small islands in the North Pacific, east of 
the Phillippines, Including the Pelew, Ladrone, Bo- 
nabe and others, from 132 deg. east longitude to 178 
deg. west, and from 21 deg. north latitude to 5 deg. 
south. 

Owing to the peculiar position of these islands. 



220 THE ISLAND WORLD 

they are exposed to winds blowing from various 
quarters, so that the emigration which settled them 
would naturally be from many different sources. In 
physical type, the people are of reddish brown com- 
plexion, rough skin, and high, bold features; the 
head is high compared with its breadth, hair black 
and curled. They show skill in various arts, and, in 
Hale's view, give indications of having descended 
from a higher to a lower civilization. In advance of 
the Polynesians, they possess the art of varnishing and 
weaving ; they also understand steering by the stars. 
The practice of tattooing is observed, not only for 
decency or ornament, as with other tribes, but for 
the purpose of distinguishing clans and memorizing 
events. Their government is more intricate than that 
of the Polynesians, and their religion is different, re- 
sembling more that of Eastern Asia, and recognizing 
the worship of parents. Taboo Is not in use. On 
some of the Islands, as Bonabe ^ and others, architec- 
tural ruins of a remarkable appearance are found. 
The language of Tarawa contains a mixture of Poly- 
nesian and. Melaneslan, or Papuan, but on the whole, 
it is uncertain If there Is a distinct Micronesian race. 



THE MELANESIANS. 

The black tribes of Oceanica present a difficult 
subject to the student of races. Not enough is known 
of their languages, to affirm either as to- their origin 
or their division. 

They are found first In the west, on the Andaman 
Islands, between lo deg. and 14 deg. north latitude. 
These Melaneslans, or Negrillos, are considered by 
Prof Owen as the lowest of mankind. They have no 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 221 

tradition or history ; no inventions, except door-mats^ 
and bows and arrows ; no agriculture, and their hal:)- 
itations are the rudest and most primitive. Both 
sexes go naked without shame, and famiHes and 
wives are in common. According to the same au- 
thority, the Andamans have no notion of Deity, or 
spiritual beings, or a future state ; an assertion which 
does not seem easily proved. They are not cannibals,, 
but show a great hostility to strangers. Neither skull 
nor teeth present the characteristics of the lowest 
African tribes. Prognathism is no more common 
than in the most of the South Asiatic peoples. The 
hair resembles that of the Papuans and Australians, as 
well as of the lower African negroes. They approach 
the orangs and chimpanzees in their diminutive 
stature, but show the well balanced human proportion 
of trunk and limbs. Latham states that there is a 
very evident link of connection between the language 
of the Andamans and the monosyllabic Burmese. 

The black tribes next appear in the Nicobar 
Islands, then upon the mountains of Mallacca, where 
they are called Semangs, and in the Phillipines, where, 
under the name of Negritos,'^ they number about 25,- 
000. 

On Luzon there are 3,000 of them under the 
Spanish rule. On Ceram a tribe of them is found so 



*The Negritos are said by Bowring to possess a remarkable 
facility in the use of their toes, and their feet are marked by a greater 
separation of the toes than usual. They can descend the rigging of a 
ship head downward, clinging with their feet. They are slight in form^ 
agile, small and thin, with handsome face, and dark copper complexion. 
The hair is black and curly, head small and round, forehead narrow, 
eyes large and penetrating, and veiled by very long eyelids, the nose of 
medium size, slightly depressed, mouth and lips medium, teeth long. — 
{Sir J. BowHng's Visit to Phil. Islands.) 



222 THE ISLAND WORLD 

low as to live In trees instead of huts. A wild race 
of blacks is supposed also to occupy the interior of 
Borneo, though there is not full evidence of it. 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

Crawford supposes that there is but one race of 
Oriental negroes, as these blacks are called, north of 
the equator, and two races south in the Malay Archi- 
pelago, and in New Guinea. Of these latter, one has 
the negro features, but not in the extreme. The hair 
is frizzled, long and bushy, skin of lighter color, fore- 
head higher, and the posterior head not "cut off," as 
it were. The nose projects, the upper lip is larger, 
and prominent, and the lower very projecting. The 
other race he distinguishes by its lank hair. 

The more general conclusion now is, that there is 
but one race of Oriental negroes, even including the 
black Australians, and the inhabitants of Van Die- 
man's Land. Latham doubts even the existence of 
the negro tribes in the smaller islands of Melanesia. 

The Australian languages are more like the Malay 
and Polynesian than they are like anything else. There 
are often, he allows, greater approaches of the black to 
the brown tribes in language, than the received physical 
divisions would justify. 

The black tribes are not considered by travelers 
as inferior in capacity to the brown, but they are pe- 
culiarly wild and Impatient of control, and thus not 
easily organized, so that they readily fall under the 
power of the Malays. It is not found to be true that 
they disappear before the advance of civilization in the 
Eastern Ocean. On the contrary, in some islands, 
even the most civilized, they have increased ; but the 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 223 

great cause of their decrease is to be found in the bitter 
hostility and superior organization of the Malays and 
Polynesians. 

Without the knowledge of their languages, these 
physical divisions are not sufficient to determine the 
origin or the divisions of the race. The probability is 
that these black tribes are offshoots from the ancient 
black races of India and Asia, scattered widely, by the 
conquest of others, or their own pursuit of plunder, 
over the Pacific islands. A black tribe is known to 
exist on the mountains between Cochin China and 
Cambodia, called the Moys, which may be a portion of 
their ancestral people. On some of the islands which 
the black nations settled, they were extirpated, or were 
driven to the mountains, where they are still found ; on 
others the malarious climate defended them from for- 
eign encroachment, and on others they became min- 
gled with a different race. Many of the Melanesian 
tribes present great mixtures of blood. 

The Papuans, who are distinguished by spirally 
twisted hair, frizzled and dressed by them in a huge 
mass above the head, are a cross of the dark races 
with the Malays. The eastern islands, as Tanna and 
others, show Polynesian blood. Timor contains with- 
in its limits every variety of color and hair. The Fijis* 
are probably a mixture of Papuans and Polynesians. 
In their mould, they are said by Mr. Williams to be 
decidedly European, with very large and powerful 
frames. The face is oval, profile vertical, nose well 
shaped, but the hair frizzled and bushy. The com- 

*The Fiji Islands, Mr. Williams supposes to be the point where 
the Asiatic and African elements, among the Polynesians, unite. 

H. C. von der Gabelentz finds evidence of the mixture of 
Polynesian and Melanesian in the Fiji language. 



224 THE ISLAND WORLD 

plexlon is between the black and brown — sometimes 
almost purple. The nearest approach to the negro is 
on the island of Kandavu. The Fijis resemble the 
blacks in their use of the bow and the manufacture ot 
their pottery, and the Polynesians, in the making ot 
their paper cloth, the preparation of kava, and the 
practice of tattooing. The language contains one-fifth 
of Polynesian words, and four-fifths unlike any other 
tongue. The aborigines of Van Dieman's Land are 
classed by some among the Papuans. The Melan- 
esians are notoriously sullen in disposition and deficient 
in enterprise, and manifest a different temperament 
from either that of the Polynesians or Africans. 

The prominent distinction between the languages 
of the negro and brown races, Crawford states to be 
that the first contain more consonants in proportion to 
vowels, and more harsh combinations of consonants, 
than the latter. 

Gabelentz has made a careful investigation of the 
dialects of many of the Melanesian tribes. Those, for 
instance, of the inhabitants of the Fiji Islands, of Anna- 
tom, Eromengo, Tanna, Mallikolo, Mare, Lifu, Bala- 
dea, Bauro and Guadalcanar. 

His deliberate and carefully formed conclusion is, 
that all the Melanesian languages, though disintegra- 
ted and apparently separated from one another, owing 
to the barbarism and isolation of each of the tribes, do 
yet belong to one stock. He is also of the opinion 
that, both in roots and in many grammatical peculiari- 
ties, there are numerous remarkable resemblances 
between the Polynesian and Melanesian ; so that the 
hypothesis of their common origin is a highly probable 
one. 

If this be hereafter more fully demonstrated, the 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 22s 

whole vast population of brown and black peoples — 
the Malays, Polynesians and Melanesians — may be 
referred to one source, and In all probability be joined 
with the Turanian races of Asia. 



THE AUSTRALIANS. 

The inhabitants of Australia and Van DIeman's 
Land, belonging to the black races, are pronounced to 
be almost the lowest of mankind. They have no gov- 
ernment, and their religion consists only of the most 
childish or debased superstitions. Their physical type 
seems a cross of the Malay and the African, the most 
distinguishing feature being the long, fine, wavy hair, 
like the hair of a European. The evidence with 
reference to their physique is quite conflicting. Many 
of them are said to show a deficiency of bone in their 
structure, and some tribes' are represented as so 
degenerated physically as to resemble cretins^ and to 
be in process of extinction. On the other hand, Pick- 
ering states that one of the finest types of muscular 
frame, and the most classic mould of head he has ever 
beheld, he saw among the Australian natives. He 
speaks of them as active, strongly formed and stately. 
Various physical types probably exist among them. 
In general, the features are as follows : The forehead 
is narrow; mouth large, with thick lips; the nose, 
depressed and widened at the base, but often aquiline ; 
the beard thick, the form slight, though well propor- 
tioned, and color black. The number of these blacks 
in Australia is said to be about 200,000. They are 
supposed to be all of the same stock, though this con- 
clusion is derived more from a resemblance discovered 
in a few words, than a close comparison of gramn^ar. 

*X5 



226 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Not a Malay word is found in their language. Of 
their character, a competent witness (Rev. Wm. Rid- 
ley) says, that they are deficient in forethought and 
concentrativeness, but that in mental acumen, and in 
quickness of sight and hearing, they are superior to 
the whites. They are generous, honest to one another, 
and often attentive to the weak and the aged, though 
cruel to women. Notwithstanding their barbarous 
condition, there exists among them a very strict divi- 
sion of castes, and a certain kind of priesthood. 

INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY. 

It is interesting to know what capacities the low- 
est tribe or race of the human family may show. We 
learn, from quotations of a recent report to the English 
Government on this subject, that the Australian negroes 
show, minds quick and keen — ** rather like a treasure 
sealed up, than a vacuum." Their perceptive faculties 
are remarkable — far superior to those of Europeans — 
while, as might be expected, they are deficient in the 
reflective powers. As a consequence, the children are 
found to learn an external study, as geography, with 
great readiness, though showing much inaptitude for 
an abstract study like arithmetic. Mr. Parker, a vis- 
iting magistrate of the school in Mt. Franklin, says, that 
the native children manifest just as great capacities 
for improvement as do English children, and that the 
main obstacle to their elevation is from moral rather 
than physical causes. 

The numerals of the Australian languages rarely 
reach five, and generally stop at three. Some afftni- 
ties have been discovered between them and the 
Tamul. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 227 

We have classed the Tasmanian tribes (of Van 
Diemen's Land) with them, but the basis for classifica- 
tion is as yet extremely uncertain. 

The great difficulty in determining the races of 
Oceanica is, that the tendency of a nomadic people to 
continually form new words and new languages, as 
they found new colonies, is here intensified by the 
separation which the sea naturally causes. There is 
something, too, in the disposition of the black races 
which has doubtless increased this tendency to disinte- 
gration. Crawford, who may have exaggerated in 
this particular, states that there are forty languages on 
the little island of Timor, and many hundreds in 
Borneo. 

Nearly all writers allow that climate and circum- 
stances have produced the most marked effects here 
on persons of the same race. Among the Tahitians 
and Maorians, for instance, the lowest castes are found 
nearly as black as negroes, and with crisp, woolly hair, 
while the higher (the chiefs and others), less exposed 
to the sun and the influences of the weather, resemble 
Europeans both in features and complexion ; though 
both, there is every reason to believe, belong to the 
Polynesian race. Similar differences are observed on 
New Zealand among the blacks. 

The Semangs, the blacks of Mallacca, are brown 
where not exposed to the sun, and in language and 
character have so strong a resemblance to the Malays, 
as to be considered by many, a tribe of that race. 

The points of resemblance between the Polyne- 
sians and the Central American Indians are so striking, 
as to induce many writers to assign the same origin 
to both peoples. 

The Asiatic origin of the Malay-Polynesian races 



228 THE ISLAND WORLD 

seems to us clearly indicated, so that all these resem- 
blances cannot be considered in this connection. 

(Brace: The Races of the Old World.) 

INFLUENCE -OF OCEAN CURRENTS. 

I have quoted thus freely from the works of Mr. 
Brace, with the object, not only of proving the origin 
of the island races, but with the view of tracing the 
source (only in a general way, however) of a portion 
of the inhabitants of North and South America, as well 
as. the islands of Oceanica. In another portion of this 
work, the ocean currents of the Pacific have been allu- 
ded to as the great highways over which the Asiatics 
voyaged, to people the New World. Mr. Brooks, in 
his work on Japanese Wrecks, accompanied by a map 
of the Northern Pacific, showing the location of wrecks 
discovered within a few hundred years, clearly shows 
the influence of the northern current. They are trace- 
able from a short distance from Japan to Kampt- 
chatka, the Aleutian Isles, Alaska, British America, 
Oregon, California, Mexico, the Equator, and westerly 
into the islands of the South Sea ; always being found 
in the line of the Japanese Black Stream. It is 
doubtful if any of these wrecks were found following 
the other course — that is, south from Japan, and eas- 
terly through the islands of the Pacific, against winds 
and currents, to the American shores. 

In the equatorial regions of the Pacific, the pre- 
vailing winds and the currents, always flow from east 
to west, or (in a plainer way) from the shores of the 
two Americas towards Asia ; the northern and southern 
currents meeting at the equator off the Mexican coast, 
and flowing together to the Indian Ocean, to part 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 229 

again, and sweep around the North and South Pacific, 
as already described. 

Between the PhiUippines, the Japanese Islands, 
and the eastern coast of Asia, another current flows to 
the south, and into thejndian Ocean; a portion some- 
times reaching the Peruvian current south of Australia, 
and running with it in its southern course. 

This inner Asiatic current, if it may be so called, 
explains the total absence of Chinese wrecks in our 
northern regions, and at the same time accounts for 
the Chinese wrecks found in the Indian Ocean, and 
even at the Straits of Magellan, on the west coast of 
South America. 

If we readily accept the views of many writers, 
the peopling of the Americas by the Asiatics was but 
natural and easy of accomplishment. If we examine 
history, facts and dates, we do not find the easy views 
advanced, sustained by them. 

ASIATIC INFLUENCES IN PEOPLING AMERICA. 

Grotius says : The Peruvians were a Chinese col- 
ony, and the Spaniards found, at the entry of the Paci- 
fic Ocean, on coming through the Straits of Magellan, 
the wrecks of Chinese vessels. 

There are proofs, clear and certain, that Mango 
Capac, founder of the Peruvian race, was the son of 
Kublai Khan, the commander of this expedition, and 
that the ancestors of Montezuma, who were from As- 
sam, arrived about the same time. Every custom des- 
cribed by their Spanish conquerors proves their Asiatic 
origin. 

Again : The Hindoo, Chinese and Japanese annals 
all correspond in recording the fact that, about the year 



230 THE ISLAND WORLD 

1280, Genghis Khan, a great Mongol chief, whose 
name was a terror in Europe, at the same time invaded 
China with hordes of barbarians from Tartary, whom 
his descendants hold in subjection at the present time. 
Having accomplished this object, he fitted out an expe- 
dition consisting of 240,000 men in 400 ships, under 
command of Kublai Khan, one of his sons, for the 
purpose of conquering Japan. While this expedition 
was on the passage between the two countries, a vio- 
lent storm arose, which destroyed a great part of the 
fleet, and drove many of the vessels on the coast of 
America. 

(Cronise: Wealth of California.) 

Some of these statements are hardly clear. The 
races from which the Montezumas sprung, were natives 
of Atzlan, a country forming at that time a small por- 
tion of northern South America, and extending into 
South Central America. In about 11 80 a. d., a 
portion of this race emigrated to the valley of Mex- 
ico, forming the foundations from which the Aztecs 
sprung. If this statement be true, Kublai Kahn did 
not arrive in America until many years after. If the 
dates are correct, neither he or the people who are 
said to have reached America from Assam, about the 
same time, can be claimed as the founders of the Aztec 
race. 

Probably if a thousand years or so were taken 
from the above dates, and time given for the great 
oceanic laws governing the currents of the Pacific, as 
well as the gradually extending ventures of a natural 
maritime people, like the Chinese and Japanese, we 
might account for a partial peopling, at least, of the 
Americas by the Asiatics. 

Nor is it well, in this connection, to isolate ideas 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 231 

and facts, and view the peopling of the Americas from 
the Pacific standpoint alone, or to ignore the influence 
of the great ocean currents of the Atlantic, or the 
early maritime ventures of countries not on our side 
of the world, and the bearing they have had on the 
ethnology of America. 

ISLAND RACES. 

Among the islands of the Pacific, the lines sepa- 
rating races are very closely defined, and through what 
would -seem perfectly natural causes. In nearly every 
case the peopling of the islands can be accounted for, 
by supposing that their migratory habits were in ac- 
cordance with the natural laws controlling the winds 
and currents in these regions. 

Closely following the migratory movements of the 
human race, as an example, we may take the animal 
kingdom. A north and south line can be drawn through 
the Eastern Archipelago, where animals of the larger 
growth cease to exist. Borneo, Sumatra, Java and 
some of the other islands have the animal kingdom 
of India and Asia well represented in the elephant, 
lion, tiger, panther, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, ourang- 
utang and monkey, with the reptilian and feathered 
species of the larger kind, all partaking of the species 
found on the main land of Asia. Of this latter coun- 
try, it is believed that the islands named, at one time 
formed a part. 

Still another parallel, running north and south 
and further to the east, may be drawn, where the 
larger of the species named above, have never been 
known to exist. Thus, the islands of New Zealand, Tas- 
mania, Australia, New Guinea and others in the same 



232 THE ISLAND WORLD 

range, are entirely free from the animals enumerated, 
excepting the monkey tribes, and in Australia the 
kangaroo. 

Another parallel can be traced, running north 
and south and still further east, through the island 
groups of the Society, Tongas, Fijis, Samoas, Mar- 
shalls, New Hebrides and the Carolines, where hardly 
any animal larger than the dog or rat, can be found 
native to the soil. These parallels are followed just 
as closely by the reptilian and feathered tribes. 

The latter, whose migratory powers are well 
known all over the world, seem curiously to draw the 
species line of locality or habitation, as closely as those 
of the animal kingdom. In the Bird of Paradise we find 
a marked instance. Their native home is New Guinea, 
where as many as twenty of this species of birds may 
be found, and are hardly ever to be met with in any of 
the other island groups. 

This follows, also, in nearly as strictly defined 
lines, with the inhabitants of Oceanica. The people 
of Borneo, Java, Sumatra and the Molluccas partake 
of the Malay, Hindoo and Chinese, being all, in a com- 
parative sense, a maritime people. 

At Australia this race element ceases altogether. 
The natives are bushmen, and root-diggers, with no 
knowledge of navigation ; not canoe-builders, or fisher- 
men, nor in any way resembling a people who V'go down 
to the sea in ships." The same is true of the New 
Zealander and the Tasmanian. Yet, but a little to the 
north, on New Guinea, and in the Carolines, the na- 
tives have some knowledge of canoe-building, sailing 
and maritime ventures. So on through the Mol- 
luccas and Phillippines, into Japan, where the art of 
ship-building and navigation, as among the islanders 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 233 

of the Pacific, may be said to have been brought to 
comparative perfection. 

East from Australia, in the Solomon Archipelago, 
and among the, Marshall islanders, the Samoans, in 
fact, as far east as the island groups extend, north 
and south of the line, the Asiatic features are prom- 
inent. The inhabitants are expert canoe and boat 
builders, with considerable knowledge of navigation, 
making long voyages in their little crafts with lateen 
sails and outriggers to windward, and altogether per- 
fectly at home on the water. These people, with the 
exception of the Fijis, and others of the wooly-headed 
type, have the features and many of the characteris- 
tics of the Chinese and Japanese — probably coming 
from those countries, making the grand circles of the 
ocean currents, with favoring winds, at very early 
periods. 

The many wrecks of Japanese vessels found in 
the Northern Pacific, following the line of the ocean 
currents clear into the island groups, seems important 
evidence in favor of the above statement. 

A like statement may be made of the maritime 
ventures of the Chinese, south of the equator, many 
traces of whose early settlements, habits and archi- 
tecture are to be found in South America. 

This would* account for the absence of animal life 
of the larger kind on the easterly islands, as the 
length of the voyages, together with the small size 
of the shipping of the earlier periods, would make 
the carrying of animals almost an impossibility. 

The prevailing winds follow the course of the 
currents through the equatorial regions of the Pacific 
from east to west. Assuming the movements of the 
ocean streams to be twenty-one miles per day, and 



234 ^-^^ ISLAND WORLD 

that favoring winds would add to the floating powers 
of a boat or canoe fifteen miles a day additional, we 
would have a favoring drift from east to west of 
thirty-six miles per day. Thus we might assume, that 
a journey of i,ooo miles per month could be made 
without the aid of sails or oars. Against such favor- 
ing circumstances it does not seem possible for a peo- 
ple without the modern appliances of steam and sail, 
to migrate. 

Many traces of ruins of architecture, similar in 
form to the pyramidal structures of the ancient Peru- 
vians and Chilians, are to be found in some of the 
islands, on Ascension particularly. Great blocks of 
hewn granite are to be found, with other forms of 
building stone, scattered over the ground in many 
places, and lying under water in some of the harbors. 
It was thought at one time that these had been trans- 
ported from great distances, and that the geological 
formations of the material were foreign to anything to 
be found on the islands. Closer research, however, 
revealed the quarries from which the stones had been 
taken, located in the interior of the islands where such 
ruins were discovered.* 

This fact has spoiled many curious, mysterious 
theories that were advanced in regard to the buildino- 
material, and leaves us but to account for the people 
whose intelligence and skill, indicates their source to 
be from countries foreign to these islands. From the 
data (a reyiew of which would but tire the reader) ob- 
tained on this subject, the race origin of many of the 
islanders of Oceanica is clearly indicated to be Chinese 
and Japanese. 

*The stone implements, with the hieroglyphical writing and draw- 
ings on the rocks, found on Pitcairn by the Bounty mutineers, may 
help, some day, to trace tiie history of the ancient islanders 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 23s 

THE EQUATORIAL CURRENTS. 

As my purpose has been throughout this work to 
present facts, untrammeled by personal opinion, for 
the consideration of the reader, I add a few notes be- 
low, taken from experiences and researches of others, 
that may modify or change altogether some of the 
ideas already advanced: 

The famous volcanic eruption on the island of 
Krakatoa, just west of Java, a year since, startled the 
civilized portion of the world with the "blue" and 
**red" and other "strange sunsets and sunrisings" it 
caused. Just now, a year after date, Ponape is gath- 
ering up some of the products of that eruption ; large 
beds of pumice-stone, in places, are covering the sea 
with its gray hue, as if an immense blanket were 
spread out. Months since, I saw an account of one of 
the harbors, near that eruption, filled with this material 
ten feet deep, and almost as compact as an ice-floe. 
The winds, and especially the currents, have taken 
some of that disgorged mass and floated it to our 
Ponape reefs. A remarkable fact about this is the 
continuity of an easterly or northeasterly set of the 
ocean's current near the line. No doubt masses of the 
ejected pumice will float along on the same current to 
the shores of South America, more than half way belt- 
ing the earth. Our natives call it "sea-fruit," for they 
have no idea where or how it was gendered, but sup- 
pose the sea is the mother. 

To some of the sandy coral islands lying in the 
track, it will be a very god-send. The material is 
gathered, crushed, and put on beds of taro as a fer- 
tilizer. Mere sand-beaches, or banks, furnish but 
little to fertilize vegetation. 



236 THE ISLAND WORLD 

But Krakatoa, or Krakatao, has other interests to 
Ponape. The word is of two syllables — the first, the 
specific name, and tao or tau, meaning ''strait;" hence 
the term means ''Kraka of the strait." But tao or tau 
is pure Ponapian, and here also means a strait — a pas^ 
sage of water. Java, then, and Ponape are blood- 
related. Indeed, centuries and centuries since, at 
least as far back as when Solomon was king, Java had 
another kind of eruption, sending off here ever so 
many of her vocables. But recently I counted more 
than fifty of these, some of them names of places on 
this island. These vocables, of course, took passage 
with the Malay tongue. And now Java is sending 
fields of pumice-stone. Some day those who are on 
the east of her must send back or set afloat to her, 
truths from God's Word. 

(Rev. Edw. T. Doane, Ponape, Micronesia). 

This would indicate an equatorial current flowing 
from west to east, in an opposite direction to, and 
between, the two great ocean currents of the Pacific. 
The speed of the current would be about eight miles 
per day, if we estimate the distance from the island of 
Java to that of Ponape to be 3,000 miles. 

Again — from Wallace, Muller, Dr. A. B. Meyer, 
Schouw-Santvoort, Proc. Roy. Geo. Soc, 1881, and 
Ency. Brit., vol. .15, I quote the following: 

Long considered as an independent division of 
mankind, the Malays are now more generally affiliated 
to the Mongol stock — of which A. R. Wallace, De 
Quatrefages and other eminent naturalists regard 
them as a simple variety, more or less modified by 
mixture with other elements. These considerations 
also enable us to fix the true centre of dispersion of 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 237 

the Malay race, rather in Mallacca than in Sumatra, 
contrary to the generally received opinion. If they are 
to be physically allied to the Mongol stock, it is obvi- 
ous that the earliest migration must have been from 
J^igh Asia, southward to the peninsula, and thence to 
Sumatra, possibly at a time when the island still formed 
a part of the mainland. The national traditions of a 
dispersion from Menangkabo or Palembang, in South 
Sumatra, must accordingly be understood to refer 
to later movements, and more especially to the 
diffusion of the civilized Malay peoples, who first ac- 
quired a really national development in Sumatra, in 
comparatively recent times. From this point they 
spread to the peninsula, to Borneo, Sooloo, and other 
parts of Malaysia, apparently since their conversion to 
Islam, although there is reason to believe that other 
waves of migration must have reached Further India, 
and especially Camboja, if not from the same region, 
at all events from Java, at much earlier dates. The 
impulse to these earlier movements must be attributed 
to the introduction of Indian culture through the Hindu 
and Buddhist missionaries, perhaps two or three cen- 
turies before the Christian era. Durinp- still more 
prehistoric times, various sections of the Malay and 
Indonesian stocks were diffused westward to Madagas- 
car, where the Hovas, of undoubted Malay descent, 
still hold the political supremacy, and eastward to the 
Phillippines, Formosa, Micronesia and Polynesia. This 
astonishing expansion of the Malaysian peoples 
throughout the Oceanic area, is sufficiently attested 
by the diffusion of a common Malayo-Polynesian 
speech from Madagascar to Easter Island, and from 
Hawaii to New Zealand. 



238 THE ISLAND WORLD 

"TABOO." 

One of the curious customs among the islanders 
of the South Sea, is the practice of that rite, so Httle 
understood by the traveler, who is not "native and to 
the manor born" — "taboo." 

Tabu, Tapu, or Tambu, a Polynesian term, deno- 
ting an institution found everywhere, and always essen- 
tially the same, in the Polynesian Islands and in New 
Zealand. Its primary meanings seem to be exactly 
the same as those of the Hebrew toebah. This word, 
like the Greek anathema, the Latin sacer and the 
French sacre, and the corresponding and similar terms 
in most languages, has a double meaning — a good 
sense and a bad ; it signifies, on the one hand, sacred, 
consecrated ; on the other hand, accursed, abominable, 
unholy. It results, from a thing being held sacred, 
that certain acts are forbidden with reference to it, 
and from any act deemed abominable ; that it is for- 
bidden. A notion of prohibition thus attaches to the 
word tabu, and this is in many cases the most promi- 
nent notion connected with it. The term is often used 
substantially in the sense of a prohibition — a prohibi- 
tory commandment. If a burial ground has been con- 
secrated, it is tabu; to fight in it, then, is sacrilegious and 
prohibited, and this also is tabu ; moreover, those per- 
sons are tabu who have violated its sanctity by fighting 
in it, and they are loosely and popularly said to have 
broken the tabzL This example illustrates all the uses 
of the word. It has furnished to the English language 
the now familiar phrase of being "tabooed" — that is, 
forbidden. 

(Chambers's Ency.) 

The observance of the custom amone the natives 
of many of the island groups is universal at all times 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 239 

and places, and fortunately has been the means, not only 
of protecthig strangers from insult and injury, but the 
preserving of life as well. In Micronesia, the ordinary 
native can select a favorite cocoanut tree, banana plant, 
or the hut in which he lives, and protect them from 
the inroads of all comers, either by erecting a monu- 
ment of loose stones, or laying them in a peculiar 
manner in front of his dwelling, or by tying a banana, 
palm or plantain leaf around the tree or plant, which 
indicates that it is tabu. Thus we see that the exer- 
cise of the right is not confined to the chiefs or people 
of high degree, but is in general use among the lower 
orders. The women, unless wives or daughters of 
chiefs, are not allowed to exercise the right ; yet a man 
may protect any of the sex from insult or injury, by 
the observance of the forms required. 

A SMALL TRIBUTE TO RELIGIOUS MISSIONS AND MIS- 
SIONARIES. 

- The inception of religious missions dates far back 
in the biblical ages. Their history, or the life and 
works of a people who practice what they preach, and 
convey the good they have acquired from religion, civi- 
lization and enlightenment, to those of the world less 
fortunate in this respect, would fill volumes. 

It is but little to praise the efforts of patient and 
daring workers, pioneers of light, in distant, dangerous, 
inhospitable lands, or speak of the many, rich and poor, 
who contribute a portion of their effects to the good 
cause — even to the widow's mite — and furnish the 
sinews of war to a noble army of Christian workers, 
the benefits of whose enlightening course through the 
pagan world can hardly be overestimated. 



240 THE ISLAND WORLD 

With this in view, I take pleasure in citing a few 
of the great benefits resuhing from the works of Chris- 
tian missions in modern times. 

In China, Japan, India^ — in fact, in all parts of Asia, 
Africa, the two Americas, and in Oceanica, we find 
their churches and schools. Following closely in the 
footsteps of adventurous missionaries, we see that boon 
to mankind, the printing press. Used not alone in 
the translation of the Bible and religious works, but, 
as in Shanghai, where ten presses are in almost con- 
stant use, we find them printing works on science, 
medicine, law, history, agriculture, school books, etc., 
and scattering them broadcast throughout the land. 
Thousands of volumes, on one hundred and fifty dif- 
ferent subjects, are printed and circulated among the 
people. And all this but a tithe of the work accom- 
pUshed among the pagans of other countries. Chris- 
tian missionaries have translated the Bible, school books, 
and hundreds of other instructive, useful works, into 
over two hundred languages and dialects. 

Many of them, in addition to their sacredotal 
acquirements, are educated physicians as well. At the 
principal stations of the mission world, medical dispen- 
saries are to be found, whose drugs, skillfully used, 
present an effective barrier to the spread of epidemical 
diseases. Of late days it has become customary to 
educate the women of the societies in medicine, 
to whose ministering cares thousands of pagans owe a 
healthful existence. 

In one district in Africa, between Sierra Leone 
and Gaboon, a distance of nearly 2,000 miles, twelve 
Protestant societies have established missions. They 
have somethinor over 20,000 children beinor educated in 
their schools, and many more adults, as members of 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 241 

Christian churches. Under this influence the slave 
trade has altogether disappeared, where in former 
times it counted its victims at the rate of 20,000 a 
year. 

Among the 5,000,000 inhabiting the island of Mad- 
agascar, 500,000 are members af Christian churches. 

Among the islands of the Pacific, particularly 
those of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia, the ad- 
vancement and benefits are fully as marked. Some 
sixty or seventy years ago, sunk in the degrading 
depths of paganism, a great many of them cannibals, 
now number over 500 islands under the care of the 
missions. 

Over twenty of their languages have been re- 
duced to writing. Churches and schools adorn the 
land ; the sound of the axe, saw and hammer, with 
the busy hum of manufactures, replace grim war and 
the hideous rites and yells of the man-eater. 

In these islands it has been truly said that hun- 
dreds of native teachers and missionaries, who have 
themselves attended the feasts and joined in the re- 
volting rites of the cannibals, may now be found suc- 
cessfully pointing the way, among their heathen breth- 
ren. The 200 churches and 1,400 schools in the Fiji 
Islands, the traditional home of the man-eater, will 
equally serve *'to point a moral or adorn a tale " of 
missionary work. 

Catholic and Protestant alike, are establishing re- 
ligious stations in all parts of the pagan world, and 
with a friendly rivalry, that but adds strength and 
effectiveness to their efforts. 

Many of the obstacles to be overcome by the mis- 
sionary, particularly among the islands of the South 
Sea, are not the fierce intractable disposition of tlie 



242 THE ISLAND WORLD 

natives, but the barriers placed in the way by a low 
class of people, already referred to in this work. 
Beach-combers, wreckers and buccaneers, castaways 
from our civilization, have had more to do with the 
modern introduction of disease and degradation 
among the natives, than inherited paganism. The 
man who first taught them how to turn a pleasant, 
healthful drink, the sap of the cocoanut palm, into 
arrack, a vile brain-entangling rum, has introduced a 
degrading element more to be dreaded than pagan 
superstition. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 243 



CHAPTER XVI. 



BIRXH^ OROWTH AP(I> OHAXH OP ISI«A1«I>S. 



Imprison' d fires in the close dungeons pent, 
Roar to get loose, and struggle for a vent; 
Eating their way, and undermining all, 
'Till with a mighty burst, whole m'ountains fall. 

Addison. 

THAT great mystery of the Atlantic Ocean, sunken 
Atlantis, has formed the theme of tongue and pen 
for ages. Veiled in tradition and romance, little 
has been ventured in the way of a truthful explana- 
tion, of the fate of the great island and her people. 

Yet in plain view, and without the garb of fiction, 
we have the birth and death of islands in almost con- 
stant operation in the Pacific, as well as in other parts 
of the globe. In this connection, I quote from a recent 
publication : 

Geographers complain that soon there will be no 
more worlds for them to conquer, and the Danes have 
ever since the loss of the Duchies, looked forward 
with doleful forebodings to the time when their coun- 
try will be still further shorn of its fair proportions. 
Nature is, however, bountiful, and now, by throwing 
up a new island off the shores of Iceland, it has added 



244 THE ISLAND WORLD 

in an appreciable degree to the territories of King- 
Christian, and to the regions which still await the ex- 
ploration of the traveler. It is true, the new land is 
only a volcanic cone, and as it was the result of sub- 
terranean fire, may, like so many of its predecessors, 
born of the throes of mother earth, sink again into 
the ocean from which it sprang. 

At various times, especially after some severe 
disturbance of Hekla, similar islands have shown 
themselves above the waves, but generally, with the 
exception of Nyoe, which was thrown up last cen- 
tury, have been worn away by the action of the surf, 
before geologists could accurately examine the vol- 
canic scoriae and ashes of which they were composed. 
In 1811 Captain Tillard, of H. M. S. Sabrma, wit- 
nessed such an islet arise during a volcanic outburst 
in the Azores, and proudly named it after his ship. 
But when he returned a few weeks later, to survey 
and annex his acquisition, not a trace of Sabrina 
Island was visible. The sea had reclaimed it. In the 
volcanic region of the Mediterranean several similar 
births of land have been recorded by ancient and 
modern writers. But the most notorious of them 
was Graham Island, which arose in the year 1831, 
some thirty miles off the southwest coast of Sicily. 
For a few weeks much ink was shed over it, and at 
one time it was feared that gunpowder would be 
burnt in the assertion of the angry claims which were 
made for the wretched 2,300 yards of ^tnaic cinders. 
The names of Sciacca, Julia, Hotham, Graham and 
Corrao were suggestively given to it by the fiery 
mariners who cruised around it, ready to land and 
hoist their countries flags the moment the scoriae 
cooled. But before Europe was embroiled in war 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 24s 

about It, Graham Island vanished, and so setded the 
dispute in its own simple way. 

After the destruction of Krakatoa by the great 
Javan earthquake of 1883, twenty-one new islands ap- 
peared in the Sunda Straits, and only last year, one 
hitherto unknown, rose above the sea off the shores of 
Alaska. 

In all these cases, volcanic action has been the 
ostensible cause of the formation of these specks in 
the ocean. But in 1871 Captains Luzen and Mack 
discovered to the north of Nova Zembla, a group of 
islets just above the sea, on the very spot where, in 
1854, William Barrant had found soundings. On the 
two largest, which were named Brown and Hellwalld's 
Islands, tropical fruits were picked up, tossed hither by 
the northern extension of the Gulf Stream. Hence 
the group was named the Gulf Stream Islands, and as 
the land In this portion of the Polar basin is undergo- 
ing a slow secular elevation, just as In other places It Is 
sinking, in the course of a century or two the Arctic 
navigator may find in that direction something worthy 
of a flag and an entry on his chart. 

From the latest date at hand, the islands formed 
in the Straits of Sunda, alluded to In the above article, 
have disappeared in the sea, and smooth navigable 
waters roll above their tombs. 

VOLCANIC AND EARTHQUAKE LORE. 

A small island lying off the northeast coast of 
Sumbawa, named Gunong Api, must here be men- 
tioned, because It contains a volcano, and forms a 
part of that ''belt of fire " to which we have adverted 
as one of the most remarkable physical features of 
the Indian Archipelago. 



24^ THE ISLAND WORLD 

It Is recorded that the inhabitants of Java, when 
the eruption began (on the above island), mistook 
the explosion for discharges of artillery, and at Jay- 
okarta, a distance of 480 miles, a force of soldiers. 
was hastily dispatched to the relief of a neighboring 
port that was supposed to have been attacked by an 
enemy. At Surabaya, gun-boats were ordered off to 
the relief of ships which were defending themselves, 
it was thought, against pirates in the Madura Strait ; 
while at two places on the coast, boats put off to 
the assistance of supposed ships in distress. For 
five days these reports continued, and on the fifth 
the sky over the eastern part of Java grew dark with 
ashy showers, so that the sea was invisible. Accord- 
ing to Mr. Crawford, the sky at Surabaya did not be- 
come as clear for several months, as it usually is in the 
southeast monsoons. 

Eastward, the din of the explosions reached the 
island of Ternate, near Gilolo, a distance of 720 geo- 
graphical miles, and so distinctly was it heard that 
*'the resident sent out a boat to look for the ship 
which was supposed to have been firing signals." 
Westward, it was heard at Moko-moko, near Ben- 
coolen, or 970 geographical miles. 

Dr. Junghuhn thinks that within a circle described 
by a radius of 210 miles, the average depth of the 
ashes was at least two feet, a circumstance which will 
enable the reader to form some idea of the tremen- 
dous character of the eruption. The mountain, in 
fact, must have ejected several times its own mass, 
and yet no subsidence has been observed in the ad- 
joining area, and apparently the only change is, that 
durincr the outbreak, Tamboro lost two-thirds of its 
previous height. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 247 

The Rajah of Sanglr, a village about fourteen 
miles southeast of the volcano, was an eye-witness of 
the eruption, and thus describes it : 

About 7 p. M., on the loth of April (1815), three 
distinct columns of flame burst forth near the summit 
of the mountain, all of them apparently within the 
verge of the crater: and after ascending, separately, 
to a very great height, united their tops in the air in a 
troubled, confused manner. In a short time the whole 
mountain next to Sangir appeared like a mass of 
liquid fire, extending itself in every direction. The 
fire and columns of flame continued to rage with 
unabated fury until the darkness, caused by the quan- 
tity of falling matter, obscured it about 8 p. m. Stones 
at this time fell very thick at Sangir, some of them 
as large as a man's two fists, but generally not exceed- 
ing the size of walnuts. 

Between 9 and 10 p. m. showers of ashes began 
to fall, and soon afterwards a violent whirlwind en- 
sued, which overthrew nearly every house in the village 
of Sangir, carrying along with it, their lighter portions 
and thatched roofs. In that part of the district of San- 
gir, adjoining the volcano, its effects were much more 
severe ; it tore up by the roots the largest trees, and 
whirling them in the air, dashed them around in the 
wildest confusion, along with men, houses, cattle, and 
whatever else came within the range of its fury. The 
sea rose nearly twelve feet higher than it had ever been 
known before, and completely destroyed the only 
small spots of rice lands in Sangir, sweeping away 
houses and everything within its reach. 

The captain of a ship dispatched from Macassar, 
to the scene of this awful phenomenon, stated, that as 
he approached the coast, he passed through great 



24.S THE ISLAND WORLD 

quantities of pumice stone floating on the sea, which 
had at first the appearance of shoals, so that he was 
deceived into sending a boat to examine one, which at 
the distance of a mile, he supposed to be a dry sand- 
bank, upwards of three miles in length, with black rocks 
projecting above it here and there. 

Mr. Bickmore speaks of seeing the same kind of 
stones floating over the sea, when approaching (in 
April, 1865) the Strait of Sunda. He adds: Besides 
the quantities of this porous, foam-like lava that are 
thrown directly into the sea by such eruptions, great 
quantities remain on the declivities of the volcano and 
in the surrounding mountains, much of which is con- 
veyed by the rivers, during the rainy season, to the 
ocean. 

(Bickmore: Travels in the Eastern Archipelago.) 
VOLCANIC FIRE-BELT OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. 

Humboldt gives a list of the volcanoes of the 
world, calculated many years ago. It therefore may 
be accepted as under-estimated, as there are some 900 
volcanoes, extinct and active, to be found in the 
Eastern Archipelago alone. 

Europe 7, with 4 active. 

Atlantic Islands 14, " 8 " 

Africa 3, " i " 

Continental Asia 25, " 15 " 

Asiatic Islands 189, " no " 

Indian Ocean 9, " 5 ** 

South Sea 40, " 26 '• 

North and South America 120, "56 " 

407, " 225 

As will be seen by the map accompanying this 
work, the volcanic fire-belt very nearly surrounds and 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 249 

outlines the western hemisphere. At Mount Erebus, 
but a few hundred miles from the South Pole, we see 
one of Nature's grandest outbursts — one of the world's 
greatest volcanoes in ceaseless eruption. With its 
lurid glare reflected back in a hundred ways by the icy 
mirrors of frozen seas, and the prismatic colorings of 
towering icebergs, it forms a spectacle too grand for 
description. Based and capped In the regions of per- 
petual ice and snow, its fiery peak, 13,000 feet, reach- 
ing up in the clouds, is a beacon light in an unknown, 
untrodden land. 



THROUGH SOUTH AMERICA. 

From this source we shall trace the volcanic, erup- 
tic fire-belt. Making its way north, the great subter- 
ranean fire-stream — one branch of which passes 
under the South Shetland Islands, and on under the 
restless Atlantic ; the other passes through Terra del 
Fuego, and across the Straits of Magellan into South 
America. Here the fiery current forces its resistless 
-way under the towering peaks of the Chilean Andes, 
breaking out at the volcanic peaks of Acacagua, Hul- 
liaciaca, Villarica, San Jose, Peteroa, Antuco, Hama- 
tua, Chilian, Calbuco, Corcovado, Osomo and Zandeles. 
Through Bolivia, appearing in the volcanoes of Isluya, 
and Sajama, whose peaks tower 22,350 feet above the 
sea, and on into Peru, breaking out in angry flames in 
Arequipa, from the towering peaks of Mesta, Chacarni, 
Pan de Azucar, burying the cities of Arequipa and 
Orite, Tultapace and Ubinos, in burning lava and 
ashes, in the sixteenth century. And again, at Coto- 
paxi, 19,500 feet above the sea, boiling over and for- 
cing its fiery way out of a height of 1 7,000 feet at 



250 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Sangail, still in Peru, pouring out sulphurous smoke, 
ashes, cinders and lava, the flames lighting up the 
country around for one hundred and fifty years past. 
Hugging the Pacific shores, along into Ecuador, where 
the great extinct crater of Chimborazo lies, while a 
branch of the stream, now extinct, makes off to the west 
some six hundred miles or more, and burst out in the 
Galapagos Islands, whose numerous extinct craters, 
nearly two thousand in number, give evidence of a 
severe eruption in past ages. 

CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO. 

From Ecuador, the current flows on through New 
Granada, Guatemala, Central America and San Salva- 
dor. The current through these latter countries seems 
to be in a quiescent state, as, although abundant evi- 
dences of its eruptic forces can be traced in the past, 
there are no active volcanoes in existence in those 
countries at the present time. 

Still onward pursuing its northerly course, to 
break out again in Mexico, in Anahuac and in Michio- 
chan, in the volcanoes of Tuxtla, Orizaba, Popocata- 
petl, Isztachuatl, Toluca, Jornillo, and in Colima, in 
Zapotai, Tancitari and Soconusco. These are nearly 
all in an inactive state at present, if we except a little 
smoke and sulphurous vapors emitted from some of 
the craters. 

Tuxtla, though (in the State of Vera Cruz), emits 
a flame day and night, lighting up the heavens with a 
glare that may be seen far away at sea. 

The current branches here aeain, one stream 
making its way due west, under the sea, for over 2,500 
miles, to appear again in those majestic volcanic out- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 251 

bursts of Kilauea and Mauna Loa, in the Sandwich 
Islands. 

PACIFIC COAST. 

The other stream pursues a peaceful course on 
through North America, following the line of the Pacific 
shore, on through California, Oreg'on, Washington 
Territory and British America, into Alaska. Through 
these countries, the flow of the fiery channel below 
may be traced by the evidences, not only of extinct 
volcanoes, but of the vast overflow of lava and volcanic 
tufa, to be found all along the route named. 

Of Mount Hood, Shasta, Mount St. Helena, and 
some others of lesser note, there is little to be said. 
Their peaks, rising from eleven to fourteen thousand 
feet, have no doubt formed vents for the restless fluid 
beneath. The geysers, hot springs and mud ebulli- 
tions, found all along the Pacific coast, owe their exis- 
tence and activity to the yet unsubdued fires of the 
volcanic belt. 

THROUGH THE ISLANDS. 

Breaking out again at Mount St. Elias, in Alaska,, 
in fitful outbursts, and but lately on one of the islands 
of the Aleutian chain, we see the mighty forces of the 
fire-stream still at work. 

Crossing from Alaska to Kamptchatka, through 
the Aleutian Islands, and touching the southern portion 
of the latter country, the eruptic current turns south- 
by-west, and flows on through the Kurile Islands, and 
through the main groups of the island empire of Japan, 
whose uneasy foundations are truly said to be rocked 
in the cradle of the deep. 



252 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Still onward, pursuing its southerly course, through 
the Phillipine and Mollucca Islands, often shaking them 
to their centers with its angry forces, the fire-stream 
makes its way, touching the northwestern portion of 
Celebes on the one hand, and missing its great island 
neighbor, Borneo, on the other ; it bursts forth in ter- 
rible and oft-recurring eruptions in ill-fated Java. Here 
again the current divides, one sweeping to the 
north and west, through Sumatra, and away into the 
Bay of Bengal ; the other turns at a point further north, 
from the Molluccas, and flows east-by-south, barely 
touching New Guinea, through New Ireland and New 
Britain, under the Solomon Archipelago ; then again 
to the south it pursues its fiery way, through the New 
Hebrides, into New Zealand ; while another, evidently 
smaller stream, branches just north of the Hebrides, 
flowing south-by-west, touching the southeastern coast 
of Australia, and apparently terminating at the island 
group of Tasmania or Van Diemen's Land. 

As far as known, there are sixty-five volcanoes in 
Alaska, ten of them being active, with one or two more 
in the Aleutian Isles. In the New Hebrides, on the 
island of Tanna, a volcanic peak still forms one of the 
beacon lights of the South Sea, to be rivaled some- 
times by its fiery neighbor, Tongariro, in New Zealand. 

THEORY OF VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 

Many theories have been advanced by scientists, 
to explain earthquake and volcanic action ; though that 
advanced by Darwin, from observations in nearly all 
parts of the world, is generally accepted. It is believed 
that the crust of the earth, slowly cooling from its once 
liquid mass, has now formed a crust of from ten to 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 253 

twenty-five miles in thickness, and still holds within this 
great covering- or shell, a molten mass of subterranean 
fires, and that volcanic outbursts occur only within cer- 
tain lines — probably those where the earth's shell is 
thinnest. It has been noted that the eruptions are 
more frequent — in fact, take place altogether — where 
the earth's surface is raising, being pushed up by the 
mighty forces within its shell. Eruptions never occur 
in lines where the crust is sinking or undergoing a 
depression, on account, no doubt, of its immense 
weight, thickness, and the additional strength it has 
acquired from cooling. The theory, sometimes ad- 
vanced, of the cracking and rending of the cooling 
shell, and allowing the waters of the seas to penetrate 
to the subterranean fires, with the consequent eruptive 
forces created by steam, would more than explain the 
earthquake phenomena. That the earth's shell would 
close again, after admitting just enough water to give 
an exhibition, such as we see in volcanic outbursts, is 
very doubtful. It is more than likely that the two 
elements, fire and water, coming together in the 
manner described, would rend the world from pole to 
pole, and leave us little but the theory to contemplate, 
if that. 

The cause of earthquakes has already received 
considerable attention, particularly those continually 
occurring all over the world, unaccompanied by volca- 
noes. Earthquakes with the wave motion, attended 
by an indescribable rumbling roar, are judged to be 
the offspring of restless subterranean fires ; while oth- 
ers, with the quick-recurring, nervous shocks, and of 
which California furnishes many examples, are accoun- 
ted for by electrical movements taking place between 
the great elements, earth, air and water. Again, these 



254 THE ISLAND WORLD 

apparent electric shocks are explained, by assuming 
the crust of the earth to be opening in cracks and fis- 
sures, and that the formations are slipping, one by the 
other, giving such a motion to the surface, as one may 
experience by forcing the moistened finger over a sur- 
face of glass. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 25s 



CHAPTER XV 1 1. 



CO]»OIHRCK, AND I]KXBROCBAI>iIC CAJSAI«S. 



A storm-cloud, lurid with lightning, 

And a cry of lamentation, 

Repeated and again repeated, 

Deep and loud 

As the reverberation 

Of cloud answering unto cloud, 

Swells and rolls away in the distance, 

As if the sheeted 

Lightning retreated. 

Baffled and thwarted by the winds' resistance. 

Longfellow {Chris f us). 

S EVERTING again to the commercial interests 
locked up in a great portion of the island world, 
and which but awaits the key of American energy 
and enterprise to open and develop, the reader may 
find the following chapter entertaining, by taking a 
general glance with me at some of the interests likely 
to affect the commerce and industries of America. 

Professor Hanks says : As the domestic, and 
the other material interests of California, have pros- 
pered and expanded, so also has the commerce 
of the country grown into large proportions. With 
an import trade second only to that of New York, 
San Francisco has such virgin fields to occupy, as open 
not to her great eastern rival. To her the trade of 



256 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Australia and the Orient, including Eastern Siberia 
and the islands of the Pacific, geographically as well 
as commercially, belongs; time, freights, interest and 
insurance all being in her favor, as against every other 
port in the world. 

Although the trade of San Francisco, which may 
be said to represent largely that of the State, has suf- 
fered in some of its departments, through the construc- 
tion of two additional transcontinental railroads — the 
one to the north, and the other to the south, of the 
more central route — it still continues large, and has 
even increased in the aggregate, since the completion 
of these lateral lines, indicating that this trade is not 
likely to be seriously crippled by this or other inter- 
fering causes. 

The value of the merchandise and treasure shipped 
from San Francisco in 1883, amounted to $105,000,000, 
of which $46,000,000 were consigned to foreign coun- 
tries. Of these exports, $60,000,000 went by sea, and 
$45,000,000 by rail. The imports from foreign countries 
amounted, meantime, to $40,000,000; the following 
staples, among other leading articles, having been 
imported in the amounts here mentioned: Sugar. 
133,914,154 pounds; rice, 58,315^750 pounds; tea, 
20,960,248 pounds; and coffee, 17,444,777 pounds. 
The receipts of lumber at this port amounted, for the 
year, to 276,772,469 feet, valued at $5,000,000; re- 
ceipts of Federal revenue, $12,558,305. 

The innumerable plants and trees in the Pacific, 
whose bark, pith and fiber, now worked in a crude 
way among the natives, into paper, cloth and fibrous 
manufactures, could be built up into a large profita- 
])le trade under more civilized rule. The pulp could 
be pressed, dried, and shipped, say to San Fran- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 257 

CISCO, where a paper, rivaling the celebrated linen 
products of that article, manufactured in Europe, could 
easily be produced. 

The black walnut, Spanish cedar, toa, tomano and 
prima vera, the rosewood, dye-woods and mahogany, 
growing so profusely in the island world, the satin, sandal 
and camphor trees, back up the assertion that im- 
mense commercial transactions with the Pacific Islands 
are in the near future. 

The cordage interests might be developed in 
much the same way, by importing the many forms of 
the raw material, which nature produces in the Pa- 
cific Islands, and manufacturing them into the various 
articles required in our advanced civilization. As the 
reader is already familiar with many of the natural 
and cultivated products of the island world, a repeti- 
tion here would prove uxiinteresting. The return 
trade of America with the islands is growing rapidly 
from year to year. Our breadstuffs, dry goods, canned 
goods, clothing, hardware, machinery, lumber, etc., 
now forming a considerable part of the shipping Hsts 
of commodities being forwarded to the Pacific Islands, 
are growing In quantity and value from year to year. 

So vast and valuable are the commercial interests 
of the Islands of the Pacific, that estimated on the 
actual product of the Hawaiian group alone, and this 
on their exports only, and that to one port, San Fran- 
cisco, that any estimate on the commercial possibilities 
of the future, would but excite the doubt and ridicule 
of the skeptical reader, 

In round numbers, the export of the above islands 
to the port named. Is say, 100,000 tons per annum. 
In comparison with the area of the available lands lo- 
cated in the Pacific, the above group would constitute 
* 17 



23^ THE ISLAND WORLD 

but the 760th part; or the whole, would export some 
76,000,000 tons per year to San Francisco alone. To 
transport this tonnage, 15,200 1,000-ton steam or 
sailing vessels would be required, making five round 
trips per year. Assuming that San Francisco is but 
a distributing point, and that, too, by rail, it would 
require 13,800 freight trains, carrying net 300 tons 
per train, or 690 trains per day, or a train would have 
to leave our city about every two minutes, day and 
night. Allowing that the trains would require twenty 
days to make the round trip, the above number, 13,800, 
would be required. 

If we take but twenty per cent, of the above, we 
would yet have a practical trade so vast that a city of 
a million or more inhabitants would naturally be re- 
quired to take care of it. 

Assuming again that the value of the exports of 
San Francisco to the Hawaiian group would compare 
as favorably with all other portions of the island world 
of the Pacific, the value would be something like 
$2,432,000,000 per annum, over three times the value 
of the annual exports of the United States. 

PANAMA CANAL. 

The proposition to connect the Atlantic and Pa- 
cific Oceans by means of a canal, the work on which 
is now under, it is to be hoped, successful progress at 
Panama, will add greatly to the world's interest in the 
Pacific Islands. Of the many projects to connect the 
two oceans, if we add Captain Ead's ship railway, and 
similar schemes, the canal at Panama is about the 
fifty-fourth. The subjoined memorandum statement 
of the three most prominent undertakings, and for 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 239 

which I am indebted to the valuable writings of Cap- 
tain W. L. Merry, gives a comparative idea, not only 
of their magnitude, but of the practical results, that 
will be derived after the completion of either of the 
proposed routes. 



MEMORANDUM OF PANAMA -CANAL. 

Length of Panama railroad, 47.5 miles; length 
of United States Panama lock canal, 41.7 miles; en- 
gineer's estimate of cost of United States lock canal, 
including 20 per cent, contingency, $94,511,360; en- 
gineer's estimate of French sea level canal, including 
10 per cent, contingency, $168,000,000. 

Mercantile estimate of probable cost of French 
low tide level canal, San Francisco Board of Trade, 
$300,000,000. 

Summit level of Panama canal survey, 295.7 
feet; engineer's estimate of time for construction, 8 
years. 

To judge of the character of this work, the fol- 
lowing estimate from the French survey is given here- 
with : 

Length of dam, 5,000 feet ; height above bed of 
the Chagres, 130 feet; height above canal level, 172 
feet; height above canal bottom, 199 feet; estimated 
cost, 10 per cent, contingency, $20,000,000. 

It will be noted that the bottom of the canal passes 
in front of the dam, seventy feet below the river bed, 
and that the Chagres River is wiped out of existence 
between the canal and the Atlantic. When the enor- 
mous rainfall, the violent freshets, and the large amount 
of sediment and floatage, brought down by floods, are 
considered, one begins to realize the enormous diffi- 



26o THE ISLAND WORLD 

cultles of the project, the doubtful results of the at- 
tempt, and the impossibility of estimating additional 
cost, which may be caused by contingencies liable to 
occur. Presuming its completion, will this dam not be 
a standing menace to the canal, passing in modest 
silence two hundred feet below its top? What will be 
the result of a moderate earthquake shock, or of seep- 
age during the rainy season ? Thus obliterating the 
Chagres, the canal passes on into the Culebra division, 
cutting through an elevation a few inches less than 
three hundred feet — of course, with an immensely 
increased excavation, as compared with the United 
States survey, but encountering otherwise no formida- 
ble engineering obstacles — and finally reaching the 
Pacific through the valley of the little Rio Grande, 
about six miles west of the city of Panama, and there 
meeting deep water about four miles outside the high- 
water mark. The mean sea-level of both oceans is 
now known to be the same ; but, while at Aspinwall 
the tide ebbs and flows from one and a half to two feet, 
at Panama the tidal movement is eighteen to twenty- 
six feet. 

The American, as well as the French survey, over- 
come the difificulty by placing a tidal lock at the Pacific 
end of the canal, which completely controls the ques- 
tion. Such is the French survey for a sea-level Pan- 
ama canal. 

NICARAGUA CANAL 

Of the route of the Nicaragua canal, the following 
memorandum will serve for a brief explanation : 

Total length of interoceanic navigation, 173.57 
miles; canal from San Juan del Norte to San Car- 
los dam, 35.90 miles; slack water navigation from 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 261 

San Carlos dam to lake junction, 63.90 miles; lake 
navigation from lake junction to lake end of Pacific 
division of canal, 56.50 miles: extreme summit level 
between Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, 1 50 feet ; total 
length of canal to be constructed, 53.15 miles; en- 
gineer's estimate of cost, $52,577,718; engineer's 
estimate of time for construction, five years. 

Mercantile estimate of possible cost by San Fran- 
cisco Board of Trade, $100,000,000. 

Surface of Lake Nicaragua is 107 feet 10 inches 
above sea level. The Lake is no miles long and 
about 35 miles wide, with average depth of water of 
9 to 15 fathoms. 

The Pacific division of the canal is i^yi miles 
long, from Lajas on the lake to the Pacific seaport of 
Brito. 

THE EADS TEHUANTEPEC SHIP. RAILWAY. 

The survey for this interoceanic project has not 
been made, and it is accordingly impossible to give an 
accurate description of the line, or its exact length. 
The Tehuantepec Isthmus United States canal survey 
is 144 miles long, to which is to be added about 2§ 
miles of river navigation, making a total of 172 miles; 
and former surveys for railway and canal service, have 
found the lowest practicable summit at 754 feet. The 
canal project for this route was abandoned, because of 
the high summit, necessitating a large number of locks, 
with a scant water supply, while a tide-level canal is 
impossible at any admissible cost. For a ship railway, 
it offers advantages over any American isthmus, and 
an ordinary railway is now being constructed there by 
an American company. The Coatzacoalcos River is a 
stream of respectable magnitude, running northerly 



262 THE ISLAND WORLD 

across the northern slope of the isthmus, with twelve 
to thirteen feet of water on its bar, which it is proposed 
to deepen sufficiently to admit the largest ships, which 
can ascend the river about twenty-five miles — how far, 
before arriving at the Atlantic end of the proposed 
railway, I presume Mr. Eads himself has not decided. 
There are no formidable obstacles in the way of build- 
ing an ordinary railroad across the isthmus, beyond the 
heavy cuts and fills usually found in a country of that 
character ; and the railroad finds its Pacific terminus at 
Salina Cruz, near Ventosa, at the head of the Gulf of 
Tehuantepec, where a port must be constructed. 
Probably Captain Eads can improve the Coatzacoalcos 
River for heavy navigation, 25 to 28 miles, and his 
railroad will be about 123 miles long. He estimates 
the cost at ^75,000,000. It has been my purpose to 
avoid a discussion of the merits of the three routes 
here described, but it will be impossible to do so in the 
case of this project, if the reader is to acquire an intel- 
ligent idea of it. My high respect for the ability of 
Captain Eads, my esteem for him, founded on a slight 
personal acquaintance, and the fact that I can lay claim 
to no technical knowledge of civil engineering, are 
good reasons for approaching this subject with 
deference, and I must regard myself as merely a stu- 
dent of the project. 

Captain Eads takes the ship out of water by a 
submerged inclined track, on which the cradle is run 
deep enough to allow the ship to be placed upon it, 
properly lined and blocked, after which a stationary 
engine hauls cradle and ship out of water to the rail- 
road proper, where four "Mogul" locomotives are 
placed ahead of it, on a twelve-rail track, which haul 
ship and cradle to the other end of the track, where. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 263 

by a reverse process, the ship is again placed in the 
water. Of course, there must be a cradle in use for 
each ship being transported simultaneously. The 
grades are overcome by tipping-tables, and the curves 
by turn-tables — as can readily be imagined, of gigantic 
size. How many of these he will need, cannot be 
known until surveys are completed ; but I fear the 
Tehuantepec Isthmus will give him many grades and 
curves. He at first estimated the cost of such a railway 
at half the cost of a ship canal, but his present idea is, 
that it will cost $75,000,000, which at once detracts 
from his scheme the principal merit heretofore claimed 
for it, which was comparatively small cost ; for there is 
every prospect that the Nicaragua Canal can be con- 
structed for a like amount ; and, while the depreciation 
and wear and tear of his railway, subjected to the 
action of a tropical climate, will necessarily be great, 
a ship canal improves with age — considerations of no 
little importance. 

That Captain Eads can construct a ship railway 
across Tehuantepec, there is little doubt ; that he can 
so construct it, as to meet all the requirements of the 
case, is another consideration. His mechanical appli- 
ances for overcoming the objections I was able to point 
out to him, appeared complicated, while the engineer- 
ing obstacles of curves, grades, etc., his intimate know- 
ledge of his profession had already indicated methods 
placing them under his control. He was willing to 
handle a loaded ship as carefully as I demanded, while 
it was my object, not to allow previous prejudices to 
affect my judgment of the merits of the scheme. In 
one respect, however, I fear, he has underrated the 
difficulty of his project. I doubt if, at Tehuantepec, or 
on any tropical American isthmus, he can find a 



264. THE ISLAND WORLD 

foundation for such a road as he wishes to build. The 
''cuts" may support it, but the ''fills" may fall to do so. 
The success of the scheme depends on extrem'e rigid- 
ity of road and cradle, and If, In tropical countries, 
foundations are always troubling railroad engineers 
under ordinary tracks, what are we to expect, under a 
weight of fifteen or twenty thousand tons, concentra- 
ted within the limits of the cradle carrying the loaded 
ship ? Captain Eads is one of the greatest living engi- 
neers, and If capitalists will furnish funds, he may build 
his railway; but, unless It is cheaper than a canal, 
what advantage does It offer? Why try an experiment, 
when a certainty offers the same results ? However, 
in the absence of a survey with instruments of preci- 
sion, It is probably unfair to discuss the project at all, 
and I dismiss it, with great respect for the ability and 
resources of the illustrious projector. 

COMMERCIAL RESULTS ANTICIPATED. 

That an American Interoceanic canal will effect 
great changes in the world's commerce, none can 
doubt ; but what little I shall have to say on this 
branch of the subject, will refer to the effect It will 
have upon American commercial Interests generally, 
and especially upon the interests of the Pacific coast 
of our country — commercial, agricultural and social. 
A project which brings this coast nearly nine thousand 
miles nearer our Atlantic sea-board, and the great 
marts of Europe, cannot fail to work great changes In 
our commercial position. The inhabltantsof the Pacific 
coast must, for a long period, continue rather a pro- 
ducing, than* a manufacturing people ; and what manu- 
facturing we are able to accomplish, will be from our 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 26s 

own products. The saving in time, insurance, depre- 
ciation and freights, appHcable to Oregon and Califor- 
nia, alone, will amount in ten years to the cost of the 
Nicaragua Canal. The saving above named, applied 
to this year's Oregon and California wheat crop, can 
be placed, with sober truth, at fully eight million dol- 
lars ! When our wool, wine, and other growing indus- 
tries are considered, it will easily be seen, that the 
producers of our coast should strain every nerve to 
insure the success of an interoceanic canal. 

Nor, as might at first sight appear, will the canal 
injure our local railroads. While it would undoubt- 
edly at first deprive them of the through freights, or 
force upon them a reduction which would be a great 
benefit to our State, in a short time after its comple- 
tion their local traffic would surpass all the through traffic 
they can hope to control, and, with our other inter- 
ests, they can reap the benefit of our rapidly increasing 
development, carrying all the products of our soil to 
tide-water, and securing a greatly increased passen- 
ger traffic. Meanwhile they have probably six years 
during the period of construction to accommodate 
themselves to the change. 

The completion of the canal will make San Fran- 
cisco the distributing point for the products of China, 
Japan and Central America, as far east as the Mis- 
souri, for it will then be to the interest of our railroads 
to secure this distribution rather than allow it to be 
made westward from Atlantic seaboard cities after 
reaching them through the canal. A rapid develop- 
ment of the Central American States and west Mexi- 
can coast would ensue, and those markets would in- 
crease their demand upon us for the commodities we 
are already sending there in limited quantity. Our 



266 THE ISLAND WORLD 

merchant steam marine would rapidly increase, for 
the commerce between our eastern seaboard and our 
west coast being coastwise, and shut out from Euro- 
pean competition, we should need a large steam ton- 
nage under American colors to carry our freights 
eastward, while they would also compete with foreign 
steamers for European freights. It will be a glorious 
day for our State when San Francisco wharves will be 
crowded with four and five thousand ton screw steam- 
ers flying our flag and loading with our products, and 
with the completion of the canal this day will surely 
come. Cheap communication with Europe will bring 
to us desirable European immigration to settle up our 
lands and displace the unassimulative Chinese who 
are trying to crowd in upon us. Shall we not tend 
to keep them out by filling the places they would 
occupy with a class of immigrants that can be Ameri- 
canized? An intelligent mind investigating this sub- 
ject finds the grand results unfolding themselves until 
an interoceanic canal appears the greatest boon our 
coast can ask for, and to the names that are associated 
therewith, their country and the world will accord un- 
dying luster. 

POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF THE CANAL QUESTION. 

Primarily, it would appear that it matters little 
who constructs a canal if our country is accorded the 
unrestricted use of it, in common with other nations. 
A further inquiry, however, must satisfy us that if we 
do not build this work we must acquire a controlling 
interest therein. We cannot afford so important a 
link in our coastwise communication to remain in the 
hands of any European organization, which would 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 26j 

naturally consult foreign interests rather than our 
own. The Central American republics are now friendly 
to us, although sparsely inhabited and without devel- 
opment. The company constructing and managing 
an interoceanic canal would soon wield an influence 
paramount to the local government, and the policy of 
the latter might become subservient thereto and in- 
imical to us. 

During the existence of the Panama railroad it 
has been deemed a necessity for our government to 
keep armed forces almost constantly at both ends of 
die transit, and these forces have often been landed 
and kept ashore indefinitely for the protection of life 
and property. If this has been the case with a rail- 
road managed by permanent employees and with a 
small native population, what may we expect when 
^v^ to ten thousand laborers of various nationalities 
are congregated there, subject to a lax police control, 
suffering from malarial fevers, discontented, mutinous, 
and with a free supply of aguardiente? Add thereto 
a greatly increased native population, and we have 
all the elements needing military power to control 
them in emergencies. 

When Count de Lessep's company have pur- 
chased the Panama railroad, which they have agreed 
to do as a preliminary step, we no longer have large 
American interests to protect there. It will be nat- 
ural, and indeed necessary, for him to call upon the 
French Government to protect the enterprise, as we 
have protected the railroad company on many occa- 
sions. The French Government, both during and 
after construction, will find it necessary to station 
armed forces at both ends and on the line of the 
canal. After landing these forces a few times, what 



268 THE ISLAND WORLD 

more natural than that they should see the advan- 
tage and economy of having these troops in barracks 
on shore — always within call? If it is claimed that 
the French Government accepts no responsibility in 
this connection, why has it already appointed an 
official agent to oversee the initiation of the work? 
If, at the end of our late internal war, our Govern- 
ment deemed it necessary to request the French to 
promptly leave Mexico — merely contiguous terri- 
tory — how much more important that they should 
not be placed in a position completely controlling our 
coastwise commerce, and establishing, first, their influ- 
ence, then their power, and lastly, if we are quiescent, 
their flag on the American Isthmus ! Are the Ameri- 
can people prepared for this? The late William H. 
Seward, than whom no brighter intellect ever graced 
American history, was wont to say that the Pacific 
Ocean is to be the scene of man's greatest achieve- 
ments. Are we prepared to have the key thereto in 
foreign hands ? Every American heart will say nay, 
and honor the patriotism of President Hayes and 
General Grant when they foresee these results and 
point them out to their countrymen. 

Nor is a large army and navy a necessity in the 
maintenance of the Monroe doctrine ; on the con- 
trary, both would become a necessity were it to be dis- 
regarded. The United States have a moral prestige 
sufficient to create a respect for our rights and in- 
terests, and it is far better to meet attempted Euro- 
pean domination on this continent, with a decisive 
negative now, than to object thereto after it has passed 
the initiative. It matters little where the capital comes 
from to construct an interoceanic canal, but a due 
respect for our national and traditional policy, as well 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 269 

as for our national pride, should indicate the propriety 
of Its accomplishment through an American organiza- 
tion ; and It is a poor compliment to our discernment 
that we are to be kept quiescent by an ''American 
Branch,'' which can any day be voted out of exist- 
ence at the headquarters of the Panama Canal' Com- 
pany in Paris ! Americans will not fail to appreciate the 
words of one who has proved himself worthy of their 
patriotic regard: ''I commend an American canal, on 
American soil, to the American people ! " 



270 THE ISLAND WORLD 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



CIJRRB^XS, ^^^IKDS, RAI]MS AKD STORMS 
OF THK I»ACIKIC. 



Bursts as a wave that from the clouds impends, 
And swell'd with tempests on the ship descends ; 
White are the decks with foam ; the winds aloud 
Howl o'er the masts, and sing through every shroud : 
Pale, trembling, tired, the sailors freeze with fears 
And instant death on every wave appears. 

Pope's {Homer's Iliad.) 

I DO not design, in this chapter, to more than 
glance, with the reader, at the broad expanse of 
waters, the majestic Pacific Ocean, and, in a general 
way, view its rains, storms and currents. Many men, 
wise in experience and intellectual acquirements, have 
already given these interesting subjects their careful 
attention ; our hydrographic offices, and the shelves of 
our more advanced libraries, teem with the rich results 
of intellect and experience. The general flow of the 
great currents, with the rise and fall of the tides, and 
the natural laws controlling the winds and storms, on 
the great waste of waters of the mighty sea, are clearly 
depicted on charts, while elaborate data fill our nauti- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 271 

cal almanacs, sailing directions, and kindred works. 
Yet so vast is the Pacific, that local influences are 
occurring in many forms, and in many places, and all 
acting without one influencing the other. Thus, if we 
could be transported, as fast as the mind can travel, 
from the Arctic to the Antarctic Oceans, or from the 
Bay of Panama to the Bay of Bengal, or circle among 
the intermediate latitudes or longitudes, all the cli- 
mates of the world would be experienced, with their 
varied physical influences, taking place at hundreds of 
different localities, at about the same period of time. 
So that none but the grander movements, like the 
"Black Stream" in the North, and the Peruvian cur- 
rent in the South Pacific, and the main movements of 
the equatorial currents, flowing both east and west, 
with the ceaseless ebb and flow of the tides, are all 
that can be contemplated with anything like certainty. 
Maury, in his "Physical Geography of the Sea," gives 
many examples of the variability of ocean currents. 
He says, speaking of the Pacific : 

There are also, about the equator, in this ocean, 
some curious currents, which I have called the "Dol- 
drum currents " of the Pacific, but which I do not under- 
stand, and as to which, observations are not sufficient 
yet, to afford the proper explanation or description. 
There are many of them, some of which, at times, run 
with great force. On a voyage from the Society to 
the Sandwich Islands, I encountered one running at the 
rate of ninety-six miles a day. Thfese currents are 
generally found setting to the west. They are often, 
but not always, encountered in the equatorial doldrums 
on the voyage between the Society and the Sandwich 
Islands. 

In Captain Pichou's abstract log of the French 



272 THE ISLAND WORLD 

corvette L! Eur y dice, from Honolulu to Tahiti, in Au- 
g^ust, 1857, a doldrum current is recorded at seventy- 
nine miles a day, west-by-north. He encountered it 
between i deg. north and 4 deg. south, where it was 
three hundred miles broad. On the voyage to Hono- 
lulu, in July of the same year, he experienced no such 
current, but in 6 deg. north, he encountered one of 
thirty-six miles, setting southeast, or nearly in the 
opposite direction. This current does not appear to 
have been more than sixty miles broad. Many instan- 
ces of this kind might be cited, of local currents, of the 
southern flow of a stream along the coasts of China, 
and on into the Indian Ocean, while outside of the 
myriads of islands, the Japanese Black Stream is 
moving in majestic circles, and in a contrary direction. 

In another part of this work, I have cited a case 
of the drift of pumice and ashes, easterly from Java to 
Ponape, flowing just between, and in a contrary direc- 
tion to, the sweep of the two great ocean currents, the 
Black Stream of the North, and the Peruvian current 
of the South Pacific. 

In regard to this floating pumice, a late authority, 
speaking of a certain formation found on the bed of the 
ocean, states, that everything seems to show that the 
formation of the clay is due to the decomposition of 
fragmentary volcanic products, whose presence can be 
detected over the whole floor of the ocean. * * * 
The universal distribution of pumice, over the floor of 
the ocean, is very remarkable, and would at first appear 
unaccountable ; but when the fact, that pieces of pum- 
ice have been known to float in sea water for a period 
of over three years, before becoming sufificiently water- 
logged to sink, is taken into consideration, it will be 
readily understood, how fragments of this material 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 273 

may be transported, by winds and currents, to an enor- 
mous distance from their point of origin, before being 
deposited upon the bottom. 

Among the islands of the South Sea, the channels, 
as between islands, are free and clear, and carry deep, 
navigable waters, with probably few sunken rocks to 
interfere with navigation. The currents flow through 
some of these channels, varying with the localities, at 
the rates of ten, fifteen, twenty-one and thirty miles a 
day. For this reason, it is deemed best to lay well off 
from shore, when not in a good harbor, of atoll lagoon, 
or bay. Many vessels have been lost in the sweep of 
these island currents, dragging their anchors (where 
anchorage can be had, as very often deep water makes 
up to almost the reef-line), and drifting in on the 
breakers, completely at the mercy of the waves. This 
often happens, too, m perfectly clear weather, when 
there is no wind to aid the luckless navigator in * 'claw- 
ing off shore." The main currents, spoken of, have 
considerable depth, while in others their movements 
may be termed surface, and sometimes greatly influ- 
enced by winds and storms. Others may be termed 
deep sea currents, whose flow traverses the depths 
below. These are just as variable as the surface move- 
ments. Any bulky article, like a keg, weighted to 
sink to the depth desired, and with sounding-line and 
buoy attached, may sometimes be seen, carrying the 
buoy against the wind and surface current, at the rate 
of two miles an hour. 

It wiU be readily seen that the course and speed 
of surface currents can be traced with greater facility 
than those flowing deep down in the sea. Although 
the custom is not general, still in the cause of sci- 
ence it should be so, that in all sea voyages, buoys or 



2^4 THE ISLAND WORLD 

bottles, with complete data of time and place, should 
be cast adrift at least once a week during the 
voyage. 

The data contained in bottle or buoy should, of 
course, contain the request to note time and place when 
recovered from the ocean. If this were a general prac- 
tice among our mariners, the little messengers would 
be looked for with special interest. The valuable 
practical data coming from this little source alone 
would add greatly in helping to perfect current charts 
of the different oceans. 

In view of the varying ocean streams, more par- 
ticularly among the islands of the South Sea, should 
development and commerce go hand in hand, the idea 
of using auxiliary steam-power on all vessels en- 
gaged in this particular trade, should meet with some 
encouragement from the mercantile world. A great 
deal of time lost in the calms and currents of these 
regions might be saved, as well as certain protection 
from storms and adverse currents. In regions where 
the atolls are, only those experienced in navigating 
among them, can judge of the value steam-power 
would have, if only applied for a few hours. The 
lagoons of the atolls are always safe harboring, but 
how to reach them with a sailings-vessel in a dead 
calm, through narrow entrances, and with storms and 
currents threatening, with the sea breaking over the 
coral reefs on either hand, is still a problem for the 
sailor. The same difficulty, if we leave out the sud- 
den gale and currents, presents itself in getting out. 
Even if the auxiliary were not made a part of the 
vessel, still a steam-launch of considerable capacity 
could be carried, to be used only when required. 
This, 1 am sure, would obviate many of the difficul- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 27s 

ties sailing-vessels have to encounter, when trading 
among the Pacific Islands. 

The Influence of the tides, mainly caused by the 
attractive force of the moon and the centrifugal force 
exercised by the earth's revolutions, no doubt affect 
the ocean currents considerably. Their rise and 
fall, ranging in some places from but a few inches 
to seventy feet, raising and lowering the ocean level 
alternately, create a variable system of currents too 
well understood by navigators to require an elaborate 
explanation here. If we admit, for example, that 
•while we have a high tide on the one side of the 
earth, caused by the moon's attraction, and that 
directly opposite on the other side of the globe there 
is a high tide, the effect of the centrifugal force of the 
earth's revolutions, with the consequent depression of 
the water levels between these points, we have a sim- 
ple explanation of high and low tides. These points 
are continually shifting, moving around the earth's 
watery surface, as the influences causing them move, 
and explain in a general way. If we leave out local 
influences, the world's tidal system. 

The influence of the heat emitted from the great 
fire-belt nearly outlining the western hemisphere may 
have had considerable influence on the ocean currents 
of the Pacific. At a much earlier period in the world's 
slow geological processes, when its shell was many 
miles thinner, it is obvious that the heat from subter- 
ranean fires would be more readily Imparted to the 
water, causing a flow of the colder portions towards 
the points where It had been expanded or driven 
away by the heat (much as we see the movements of 
the mobile element when heatlne It In a vessel over a 
.fire). The impetus given in this manner to the ocean's 



276 THE ISLAND WORLD 

flow, it would seem but natural for the heat of the 
sun's rays together with the prevailing winds and 
tides, to keep it in constant motion and agitation. 
Many authorities attribute the movement of ocean 
currents altogether to the influence of the winds, 
whose great force and power will be better under- 
stood by consulting the following table, compiled from 
the latest observations of meteorologists : 

VELOCITY AND FORCE OF WIND. 

Miles Feet Pressure on a 

per hour, per minute. sq. ft. in lbs. Description of wind. 

1 88 005 Barely observable. 

^ ^^^ -^^ I Just perceptible. 

3 264 045 r ^ ^ 

4 352 .08 Light breeze. 

5 440 125 \ 

6 528 18 [-Gentle, pleasant wind. 

8 704 32 3 

10 880 .5 Fresh breeze. 

15 1,320 I-I25 Briskblow. 

20 1,760 2 Stiff breeze. 

25 2,200 3,125 Very brisk. 

3^ ^'^40 4.5 I High wind. 

35 3.080 6.125 J 

40 3,520 8. Very high wind. 

45 3>96o 10.125 Gale. 

50 4,400 12.5 Storm. 

60 5,280 18 Great storm. 

80 7,040 32 Hurricane. 

100 8,800 50. Tornado. 

The cause of prevailing winds, blowing over the 
surface of the Pacific and other oceans — the *' trades" 
— is given by the best authorities, as naturally following 
from the differences occurring between what is termed 
the regions of high and low barometer. This, in plainer 
terms, and those that may be understood by children, 
(if my little work should be honored by their perusal), 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 277 

would be the difference — in the pressure or weight 
of the atmosphere. North and south of the equator 
lie the regions of the greatest pressure of the air, and 
in between these, there is a broad space, following the 
equatorial line, belting the world. This is the region 
of low barometer, or where generally the pressure of 
the air is lightest. Towards this belt, the air from the 
north and south flows, as naturally as a greater height 
or level of water would run towards that of a lower 
level. On the Pacific Ocean, these air currents come 
from northeast and southeast, curving and blowing 
west near the equator, forming the trade winds. Aris- 
totle, who was probably the first to predict changes in 
the weather, much in the form of the meteorological 
predictions of the present day, must have had some 
idea of atmospheric pressure, and the differences oc- 
curring in its weight. A definite explanation, though, 
of the pressure of the air, was not had until 1643, when 
it was discovered and explained by Torricelli, a pupil 
of Galileo. The theory of trade winds was explained 
by George Hadley, about 1735. Humboldt's Treatise 
on Isothermal Lines was not published until 18 17. 

MONSOONS. 

Maury says : Monsoons are, for the most part, 
trade winds deflected. When, at stated seasons of the 
year, a trade wind is turned out of its regular course, 
as from one quadrant to another, it is regarded as a 
monsoon. The African monsoons of the Atlantic, the 
monsoons of the Gulf of Mexico, and the Central 
American monsoons of the Pacific, are, for the most 
part, formed of the trade winds, which are turned back 
or deflected, to restore the equilibrium which the over- 



2^8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

heated plains of Africa, Utah, Texas and New Mexico 
have disturbed. Thus, with regard to the northeast 
and southwest monsoons of the Indian Ocean, for ex- 
ample — a force is exerted upon the northeast trade 
winds of that area, by the disturbance which the heat 
of summer creates in the atmosphere over the interior 
plains of Asia, which is more than sufficient to neutra- 
lize- the forces which cause those winds to blow as trade 
winds ; it arrests them, and turns them back ; but, were 
it not for the peculiar condition of the lands about that 
ocean, what are now called the northeast monsoons, 
would blow the year round ; there would be no south- 
west monsoons there, and the northeast winds, being- 
perpetual, would become all the year what, in reality, 
for several months they are — viz., northeast trade 
winds. 

EFFECT OF MONSOONS. 

Upon India and its seas, the monsoon phenomena 
are developed on the grandest scale. They blow over 
all that expanse of northern water, that lies between 
Africa and the Phillippine Islands. Throughout this 
vast expanse, the winds that are known as the north- 
east trades, are here called northeast monsoons, be- 
cause, instead of blowing from that quarter for twelve 
months, as in other seas, they blow only for six. During 
the remaining six months, they are turned back, as it 
were, for instead of blowing toward the equator, they 
blow away from it, and instead of northeast trades, we 
have southwest monsoons. 

The monsoon is an innocent, peaceable breeze, 
and in no way related to the typhoon, that terror of nav- 
igators, in some parts of the Pacific. In fact, as Maury 
says, in his Sailing Directions, it is a curious thing, this 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 279 

influence of islands in the trade wind region, upon the 
winds of the Pacific. Every navigator who has cruised 
in those parts of that ocean, has often turned, with 
wonder and dehght, to admire the gorgeous piles of 
cumuli, heaped up in the most delicate and exquisitely 
beautiful masses, that it is possible for fleecy matter to 
assume. Not only are these cloud-piles found capping 
the hills among the islands, but they are often seen to 
overhang the lowest isle of the tropics, and to even 
stand above coral patches and hidden reefs, "a cloud by 
day," to serve as a beacon to the lonely mariner out 
there at sea, and to warn him of shoals and dangers, 
which no lead or seaman's eye has ever seen or soun- 
ded out. These clouds, under favorable circumstan- 
ces, may be seen gathering above the low coral island, 
and performing their oflice, in preparing for vegetation 
and fruitfulness, in a very striking manner. As they 
are condensed into showers, one fancies that they are 
a sponge of the most delicately elaborated material, 
and that he can see, as they "dropdown their fatness," 
the invisible but bountiful hand aloft, that is pressing 
it out. 

TYPHOONS. 

Under this head, for brevity's sake, all those ter- 
rible phenomena, known as hurricanes, tornadoes and 
cyclones, generally applied to storms taking place over 
the land, might be included the disastrous gales of the 
Pacific, known as typhoons. True, the ocean was well 
named by Magellan, and no doubt exhibits less stormy 
proclivities than any of the mighty wastes of water, 
nearly covering the globe. 

Maury admits the research and ability of Redfield 
in America, Reid in England, Tom of Mauritius and 



28o THE ISLAND WORLD 

Paddlngton of Calcutta, in explaining typhoons, stating 
the theory of this school: That these are rotary 
storms; that they revolve against the hands of a 
watch in the southern hemisphere ; that nearer the 
center or vortex the more violent the storm, while 
the center itself is a calm, which travels sometimes 
a mile or two an hour, and sometimes forty or fifty ; 
that in the center the barometer is low, rising as you 
approach the periphery of the whirl ; that the diame- 
ter of these storms is sometimes a thousand miles, 
and sometimes not more than a few leagues; that 
they have their origin somewhere between the par- 
allels of lo deg. and 20 deg. north and south, travel- 
ing to the westward in either hemisphere, but increas- 
ing their distance from the equator until they reach 
the parallels of 25 deg. or 30 deg., when they turn 
toward the east, or ''recurvate," but continue to in- 
crease their distance from the equator — that is, they 
first travel westwardly, inclining toward the nearest 
pole ; they then recurve and travel eastwardly, still 
inclining toward the pole ; that such is their path in 
both hemispheres, etc. 

THEIR EXPLANATION. 

Maury doubts the correctness of the above state- 
ments in many ways, yet does not prove anything to 
the contrary. Their inception, with the destructive 
forces they exercise when fully under way, seems to 
be derived exactly from the same natural laws that 
create the trade winds, the flow of the heavier air to 
occupy the space opened up by the lighter. The 
more rarified atmosphere may come from the influ- 
ence of the sun's heat, the rapid evaporation of water 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN jiSi 

from the ocean's surface, or from the rapid condensa- 
tion of aqueous vapor and consequent fall of rain, 
which is always accompanied by rarification and lib- 
eration of heat, These sudden gyrating storms, of 
which the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans furnish 
many examples every year, have yet to be fully ex- 
plained, as some of them are accompanied by all the 
phenomena of lightning, thunder and copious show- 
ers 'of rain. This may add to the many theories 
already advanced, the broad explanation that elec- 
trical changes and influences will supply. The many 
examples recorded of the destructive forces of these 
storms, these myriads of whirlwinds, traveling across 
sea or land, are too well known to need repetition 
here. 

From Birt's Hand-Book of Storms, furnishing a 
record of hurricanes for a year's time, I find the West 
Indies credited with 113; South Indian Ocean, 53; 
Mauritius, 53 ; Bay of Bengal, 30; and the China Sea 
(Pacific), 46. 

RAINFALL OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS. 

With but very few exceptions, the island world is 
bountifully supplied with rain. True, some are with- 
out sufificient moisture apparently, although the pro- 
fuse vegetation throughout the different groups testify 
to an abundant supply. About the only exceptions 
are some of the volcanic rocks and guano islands, 
whose bare surfaces, have not the requisites for at- 
tracting moisture. 

. At the Aleutian Isles there is more than enough, 
while Oueen Charlotte and Vancouver Islands abound 
in running streams from bounteous rains. The islands 
along the coasts of California and Mexico are not so 



282 THE ISLAND WORLD 

fortunate in this respect-; but unimportant as they are 
in size and products, this want is only felt locally, and 
is not of general importance. The Hawaiian group, 
with a rainfall of thirty-six inches per annum, may be 
said to have an abundance. The Galapagos, and islands 
further south, have barely a sufficiency, until the islands 
of Southern Chili are met, and clear on to Cape Horn, 
where the rainfall often reaches 200 inches in a year. 
The islands of Juan Fernandez, Mas-a-Fuera, -Pit- 
cairn, the Paumatous, Society, Fiji, Friendly, Samoa, 
Marquesas, New Caledonia, the Marshall system, 
etc., attest, by the profusion of natural vegetation, an 
abundant rainfall. New Zealand, Tasmania and Aus- 
tralia have copious showers, though the latter, with her 
immense interior wastes, with their great evaporating 
powers, leaves surface water scarce. The Solomon Arch- 
ipelago, Santa Cruz, the New Guinea, Ireland, Britain, 
Admiralty islands and groups, have abundant moisture. 
Java, Celebes, Borneo, the Molluccas and Sumatra 
are in some localities, too well supplied, the fall of 
rain in parts of Sumatra and Borneo being from 
100 to 200 inches per annum. Still further west, 
and In the northeast part of the Bay of Bengal, 
among the Khasi Hills, it is said that the mean record 
of rainfall for twenty years Is something like 493.19 
inches per annum, claimed to be the greatest recorded 
rainfall on the globe. The islands of the Chinese 
Empire, as well as the Philllppines and Japan, are alt 
in the range of abundant precipitation. In fact, 
throughout the islands of the Pacific, water has never 
been a drawback. True, in some spots surface mois- 
ture Is scarce, yet In nearly every case, where sinking 
has been resorted to, a plentiful supply of fresh water 
has been met with. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 283 

PORTS AND HARBORS. 

The following exact geographical location of some 
of the principal harbors and ports of the Pacific islands, 
are taken from lists in the United States Hydrographic 
Office: 

Anger, Java. — Fourth Point Lighthouse (time ball). 

6 deg. 4 min. 18 sec, S. lat; 105 deg. 53 min. o 

sec, E. long. Netherlands Hydrographic Office. 
Austral (Tubual) Islands. — Rouroutou Island, North 

Point. 22 deg. 29 min. o sec, S. lat.; 151 deg. 23 

min. 41 sec, W. long. Kulczki. 
Acapulco, Mexico. — Northwest angle of Fort. 16 

deg. 50 min. 56 sec, N. lat.; 99 deg. 55 min. 28 

sec, W. long. Commmander Philip, U. S. N. 
Australia, Sydney. — Observatory. 2>?> deg. 51 min. 

41 sec, S. lat.; 151 deg. 12 min. 39 sec, E. long. 

Nautical Almanac 
Australia, Adelaide Port. — Snapper Point. 34 deg. 

46 min. 50 sec, S. lat; 138 deg. 31 min. o sec E. 

long. Australia Directory. 
Australia, Melbourne. — Observatory. 2)7 ^^g- 49 

min. 53 sec, S. lat; 144 deg. 58 min. 42 sec, E. 

long. Nautical Almanac 
Bandger Massin, Borneo. — Residency flag-staff. 3 

deg. 18 min. 55 sec, S. lat; 114 deg. 35 min. 8 

sec, E. long. Netherlands Hydrographic Office. 
Batavia, Java. — Observatory (time ball). 6 deg. 7 

min. 40 sec, S. lat; 106 deg. 49 min. 7 sec, E. 

long. Netherlands Hydrographic Office. 
Barrow Point, Alaska. — Highest latitude of the 

United States. 71 deg. 27 min. o sec, N. lat; 

156 deg. 15 min. o sec, W. long. Capt Beechey, 

H. N, 



284 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Bonin Islands, Peel Island. — Port Lloyd Observa- 
tory. 27 deg. 5 min. '^'] sec, N. lat.; 142 deg. 11 
min. 30 sec, E. long. Commodore Rodgers, 
U. S. N. 

Caroline Islands, Hogoleu.- — North end of Isis Islet. 
7 deg. 18 min. 30 sec, N. lat; 151 deg. 56 min. 
30 sec, E. long. Captain Simpson, R. N. 

Christmas Island. — North Point of Cook Islet, i 
deg. 57 min. 17 sec, N. lat; 157 deg. 27 min. 46 
sec, W. long. Captain Skerrett, U. S. N. 

Fanning Island. — Flag-staff, entrance to English 
Harbor. 3 deg. 51 min. 26 sec, N. lat; 159 deg. 
23 min. 35 sec, W. long. English survey. 

Farallone Islets, California. — Lighthouse, South 
Islet i"] deg. 41 min. 49 sec, N. lat; 123 deg. 
o min. 4 sec, W. long. U. S. Coast and Geodetic 
Survey. 

Fiji Islands. — Vanua Lavu Island, M'bua Bay, Dimba, 
Dimba Point 16 deg. 48 min. 10 sec, S. lat; 
178 deg. 26 min. 14 sec, E. long. Findlay South 
Sea Directory. 

Fiji Islands. — Viti Lavu Island, Summit of Malolo 
Islet 17 deg. 44 min. 45 sec, S. lat; 177 deg. 
9 min. o sec, E. long. English survey. 

Friendly Islands. — Tonga-Tabu Island, Nukalofa; 
King's Garden. 21 deg. 8 min. 20 sec, S. lat, 
175 deg. 8 min. 7 sec, W. long. Lieut Heath, 
R. N. 

Formosa Island. — Kelung Harbor, south shore. 25 
deg. 8 min. 25 sec, N. lat; 121 deg. 45 min. 30 
sec, E. long. Captain Collinson, R. N. 

Galapagos Islands. — Charles Island, summit (1,780 
feet). I deg. 19 min. o sec, S. lat; 90 deg. 28 
min. o sec, W. long. Captain Fitzroy, R. N. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 285 

Galapagos Islands. — Abingdon Island, summit 

(1,950 feet), o deg. 34 min. 25 sec, N. lat; 90 

deg. 44 min. 10 sec, W. long. Captain Fitzroy, 

R. N. 
Gilbert or Kingsmill Islands. — Aurorai or Hurd's 

Island, South Point. 2 deg. 40 min. 54 sec, S. 

lat; 177 deg. i min. 13 sec, E. long. Findlay, 

South Pacific. 
Hainan Island (China). — CapeBastian extreme. 18 

deg. 9 min. 30 sec, N. lat.; 109 deg. 33 min. 30 

sec, E. long. China Sea Directory. 
Juan Fernandez Island. — Fort S. Juan Bautista. 33 

deg. 2)1 i^ii^- 36 sec, S. lat; *]% deg. 49 min. 45 

sec, W. long. English survey. 
Ladrone or Mariana Islands. — Ascension Island, 

Crater (2,600 feet). 19 deg. 45 min. o sec, N. 

lat; 145 deg. 30 min. o sec, E. long. Captain 

Sanchez, Spanish Navy. 
Louisade Archipelago. — St. Aignan Island, summit. 

10 deg. 42 min. o sec, S. lat; 152 deg. 43 min. o 

sec, E. long. Australia Directory. 
Loyalty Islands. — Mare or Britania Island, South 

Point 21 deg. 42 min. o sec, S. lat; 168 deg. 

o min. o sec, E. long. Admiral D'Urville, French 

Navy. 
Manila (Island of Luzon, Phillippine Group) Cathe- 
dral. — 14 deg. 35 min. 31 sec, N. lat; 120 deg. 

58 min. 3 sec, E. long. Lieut Commanders 

Green and Davis, U. S. N. 
Marquesas Islands. — Nuka Hiva Island, PortTai-o- 

hae, French Hill. 8 deg. 54 min. 11 sec, S. lat; 

140 deg. 5 min. 6 sec, W. long. Lieutenant J. 

E. Craig, U. S. N. 



286 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Mas-a-fuera Island. — Summit (4,000 feet). 33 deg. 
'46 min. o sec, S. lat.; 80 deg. 46 min. o sec. W. 
long. H. M. S. Albatross, 

Marshall Islands. — Arhuo Atoll, Northeast Point. 
7 deg. 9 min. 17 sec, N. lat.; 176 deg. 56 min. 
30 sec, E. long. Commander Meade, U. S. N. 

Mulgrave Islands. — Port Rhiu, north side of en- 
trance. 6 deg. 14 min. o sec, N. lat.; 171 deg. 
46 min. o sec, E. long. Captain Berard, French 
Navy. 

Mazatlan, Mexico. — Signal station. 23 deg. 11 min. 
17 sec, N.lat.; 106 deg. 26 min. 39 sec.,W. long. 
Commander Dewey, U. S. N. 

New Britain. — Blanche Bay, Matupi Island, North- 
east Point. 4 deg. 13 min. 20 sec, S. lat.; 152 
deg. 10 min. 18 sec, E. long. German survey. 

New Caledonia. — Harbor of Noumea, Lighthouse at 
office of Captain of the Port. 22 deg. 16 min. 20 
sec, S. lat.; 166 deg. 27 min. 8 sec, E. long. 
Lighthouse List. 

New Guinea. — Cape Cretin, Cretin Islets. 6 deg. 
43 min. o sec, S. lat.; 147 deg. 53 min. 20 sec, 
E. long. Captain Moresby, R. N. 

New Hebrides Islands. — Aniteum Island, Port Ani- 
teum. Sand Islet. 20 deg. 15 min. 17 sec, S. lat.; 
169 deg. 44 min. 44 sec, E. long. Captain Den- 
ham, R. N. 

New Hebrides Islands. — Tanna Island, Port Resolu- 
tion, Mission. 19 deg. 31 min. 17 sec, S. lat.; 
169 deg. 27 min. 30 sec, E. long. Captain Den- 
ham, R. N. 

New Ireland. — Carteret Harbor, Cocoanut Islet. 4 
deg. 41 min. 26 sec, S. lat.; 152 deg. 42 min. 25 
sec, E. long. Captain Belcher, R. N. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 287 

North Islands. — Queen Charlotte Island, NorthPoint. 

— 54 deg. 20 min. o sec, N. lat.; 133 deg. o min. 

o sec, W. long. English. 
New Zealand. — Oueenstown, U. S. Transit-of-Venus 

Station. 45 deg. 2 min. 7 sec, S. lat.; 168 deg. 

40 min. 6 sec, E. long. Captain Raymond, 

U. S. A. 
Nagasaki, Japan. — North angle of Custom-house 

Sea-wall. 32 deg. 44 min. 35 sec, N. lat.; 129 

deg. 52 min. 9 sec, E. long. Lieut. Commanders 

Green and Davis, U. S. N. 
Panama. — South Tower of Cathedral. 8 deg. 5 1 min. 

12 sec, N- lat.; 79 deg. 32 min. 12 sec, W. long. 

Lieut. Commander Green, U. S. N. 
Paumatou Islands (Low Archipelago). — Arnanu or 

Muller Island, Southwest Point. 17 deg. 53 min, 

20 sec, S. lat.; 140 deg. 50 min. 26 sec, W. long. 

Commaisance des Temps. 
Phoenix Islands. — Gardner's Island, center. 4 deg. 

47 min. 42 sec, S. lat; 174 deg. 40 min. 18 sec, 

W. long. Commander Wilkes, U. S. N. 
Pitcairn Island. — Village. 25 deg. 3 min. 2>7 sec, S. 

lat; 130 deg. 8 min. 2>7 sec, W. long. Captain 

Beechy, R. N. 
Samoan Islands. — Savaii Island, Paluale Village. 13 

deg. 45 min. o sec, S. lat; 172 deg. 17 min. o sec, 

W. long. Commander Wilkes, U. S. N. 
Samoan Islands. — Upolu Island, Apia Harbor, Ru- 

gis Wharf. 13 deg. 48 min. 56 sec, S. lat.; 171 

deg. 47 min. 34 sec, W. long. Captain Richards, 

R. N. 
Santa Cruz Islands. — Vanikoro, Ocili Village. 11 

deg. 39 min. 30 sec, S. lat; 166 deg. 55 min. 10 

sec, E. long. Admiral D'Urville. 



288 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Society Islands. — Boru-boru Island, Otea Vanua 

Village. 1 6 deg. 31 min. 35 sec, S. lat; 151 

deg. 46 min. o sec, W. long. Findlay. 
Society Islands. — Tahiti Island, Papiete Harbor, 

Motu-uta Islet. 17 deg. 31 min. 39 sec, S. lat; 

149 deg. 34 min. 16 sec, W. long. Connaisance 

des Temps. 
Solomon Islands.— Bougainville IsFand, Northeast 

Point. 5 deg. 30 min. o sec, S. lat; 155 deg. 

17 min. 14 sec, E. long. Admiral D'Urville. 
Sumatra, Padang. — Apenberg flagstaff, o deg. 58 

min. I sec, S. lat; 100 deg. 20 min. 13 sec, E. 

long. Netherlands Hydrographic Office. 
Singapore.-^Fullerton Battery, i deg. 17 min. 11 

sec, N. lat.; 103 deg. 51 min. 15 sec,, E. long. 

Lieut Commanders Green and Davis, U. S. N. 
Sandwich Islands. — Hawaii, Hilo Bay Lighthouse, 

19 deg. 45 min. o sec, N. lat.; 155 deg. 5 min. 

o sec, W. long. Light House List 
Sandwich Islands. — Oahu, Honolulu, Reef Light- 
house. 21 deg. 17 min. 55 sec, N. lat; 157 deg. 

52 min. 13 sec, W. long. Hawaiian Government 

Survey. 
Sitka, Alaska. — Middle of parade ground. 57 deg. 

2 min. 52 sec, N. lat; 135 deg. 19 min. 31 sec, 

W. long. U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
San Francisco, Cal. — Presidio Station, i'] deg. 47 

min. 30 sec, N. lat; 122 deg. 27 min. 49 sec, W. 

long. U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
San Diego. — Coast Survey Astronomical Station. 

32 deg. 43 min. 6 sec, N. lat; 117 deg. 9 min. 

40 sec, W. long. U. S. Coast and Geodetic 

Survey. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 289 

Tasmania. — Hobart Town, Transit of Venus Sta- 
tion. 42 (leg. 53 min. 25 sec, S. lat..; 147 deg. 
20 min. 7 sec, E. long. Professor Harkness, 
U. S. N. 

Union (Tokalau) Islands. — Nuku-Nono, or Duke 
of Clarence Island, .Southeast Point. 9 deg. 11 
min. 15 sec, S. lat..; 171 deg. '^'] min. 2 sec, W. 
long. 'Commander Wilkes, U. S. N. 

Valparaiso, Chili. — Site of San Antonio Fort. ^ 
deg. I min. 53 sec, S. lat.; 71. deg. i'^ min., W. 
long. English Survey. 

Vancouver Island. — Esquimalt, Lighthouse. 48 deg. 
25 min. 40 sec, N. lat. 123 deg. 27 min. 20 sec 
W. long. Admiralty Light List. 

Yokohama, Jap^n. — Flag-staff English naval store- 
house. 35 deg. 26 min. 24 sec, N. lat; 139 deg. 
39 min. 14 sec, E, long. Lieut. Commanders 
Green and Davis, U. S. N. 



2^0 THE ISLAND WORLD 



CHAPTER XIX. 



mSiXORICAI^ AXD BIOGStAPHICAlr. 



And now, rejoicing in the prosperous gales, 
With beating heart, Ulysses spreads his sails ; 
Placed at the helm he sate, and marked the skies, 
Nor closed in sleep his ever-watchful eyes. 
There viewed the Pleiads and the Northern Team, 
And great Orion's more refulgent beam. 
To which, around the axle of the sky. 
The Bear, revolving, points his golden eye ; 
Who shines exalted on the ethereal plain. 
Nor bathes his blazing forehead in the main. 

Pope's {Homer's Odyssey.) ^ 

THE first nation or people in the world, to make 
any practical progress in navigation and com- 
merce, or carry on any considerable traffic, mak- 
ing the seas and oceans serve as a highway, were — 
with the possible exception of the Chinese — the Phoe- 
nicians. Our accounts of them date as far back as 
2800 years before the Christian era. Phoenicia was 
one of the smallest countries of antiquity. It occupied 
that part of the Syrian coast, which stretches from 
Aradus (the modern Ronad) on the north, to a little 
below Tyre on the south — a distance of about fifty 
leagues. Its breadth was much less, being, for the 
most part, bounded by Mount Libanus to the east, and 
Mount Carmel on the south. The surface of this 




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OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 291 

narrow tract was generally rugged and mountainous, 
and the soil in the valley, though moderately fertile, 
did not afford sufficient supplies of food, to feed the 
population. Libanus and its dependent ridges were, 
however, covered with timber, suitable for ship build- 
ing; and besides Tyre and Sidon, Phoenicia possessed 
the ports of Tripoli, Byblos, Berytus, etc. In this situ- 
ation, occupying a country unable to supply them with 
sufficient quantities* of corn — hemmed in by mountains 
and powerful and warlike neighbors, on the one hand, 
and having, on the other, the wide expanse of the 
Mediterranean, studded with islands, and surrounded 
by fertile countries, to invite the enterprise of her citi- 
zens — they were naturally led to engage in maritime 
and commercial adventures, and became the boldest 
and most experienced mariners, and the greatest dis- 
coverers, of ancient times. 



MERCHANTS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 

From the remotest antiquity, a considerable trade 
seems to have been carried on, between the Eastern 
and Western worlds. The spices, drugs, precious 
stones, and other valuable products of Arabia and 
India, have always been highly esteemed in Europe, 
and have been exchanged for the gold and silver, the 
tin, wines, etc., of the latter. At the first dawn of 
authentic history, we find Phoenicia the principal centre 
of this commerce. 

THE PHa]:NICIANS. 

Her inhabitants are designated, in the early sacred 
writings, by the name of Canaanites — a term which, in 
the language of the East, means merchants. The 



292 THE ISLAND WORLD 

products of Arabia, India, Persia, etc., were originally 
conveyed to her by companies of traveling merchants, 
or caravans, which seem to have performed exactly 
the same part, in the commerce of the East, in the days 
of Jacob, that they do at present. (Genesis, xxxvii, 
25, etc.) At a later period, however, in the reigns 
of David and Solomon, the Phoenicians, having formed 
an alliance with the Hebrews, acquired the ports of 
Elath and Eziongeber, at the northeast extremity^ of 
the Red Sea. Here they fitted out fleets, which traded 
with the ports on that, and probably with those of 
Southern Arabia, the west coast of India, and Ethiopia. 
The distance of the Red Sea from Tyre being very 
considerable, the conveyance of goods from one to the 
other, by land, must have been tedious and expensive. 
To lessen this inconvenience, the Tyrians, shortly after 
they got possession of Elath and Eziongeber, seized 
upon Rhinoculura, the port on the Mediterranean, 
nearest the Red Sea. The products of Arabia, India, 
and adjacent countries, being carried thither, were then 
put on board ships, and conveyed, by a brief and easy 
voyage, to Tyre. If we except the transit by Egypt 
(overland), this was the shortest and most direct, and 
for that reason, no doubt, the cheapest channel, by 
which the commerce between Southern Asia and 
Europe could then be conducted. But it is not be- 
lieved, that the Phoenicians possessed any permanent 
footing on the Red Sea, after the death of Solomon. 
The want of it does not, however, seem to have sensi- 
bly affected their trade, and Tyre continued, till the 
foundation of Alexandria, to be the grand emporium 
for Eastern products, with which it was abundantly 
supplied, by caravans from Arabia, the bottom of the 
Persian Gulf, and from Babylon, by way of Palmyra. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN - 293 

COMMERCE. 

The commerce of the Phoenicians with the coun- 
tries bordering on the Mediterranean, was still more 
extensive and valuable. At an early period, they 
established settlements in Cyprus and Rhodes. The 
former was a very valuable acquisition, from its prox- 
imity, the number of its -ports, its fertility, and the vari- 
ety of its vegetable and mineral productions. Having 
passed, succe3sively, into Greece, Italy and Sardinia, 
they proceeded to explore the southern shores of 
France and Spain, and the northern shores of Africa. 
They afterwards adventured upon the Atlantic, and 
were the first people, whose flag was displayed beyond 
the pillars of Hercules. 

INVENTIONS AND MANUFACTURES. 

Nor were the Phoenicians celebrated only for their 
wealth, and the extent of their commerce and naviga- 
tion. Their fame, and their right to be classed amongst 
those who have conferred the greatest benefits on 
mankind, rest on a still more unassailable foundation. 
Antiquity is unanimous in ascribing to them the inven- 
tion and practice of all those arts, sciences and contri- 
vances, that facilitate the prosecution of commercial 
undertakings. They are held to be the inventors of 
arithmetic, weights and measures, of money, of the art 
of keeping accounts, and, in short, of everything that 
belongs to the business of a counting-house. They 
were also famous for the invention of ship building 
and navigation ; for the discovery of glass ; for their 
manufacture of fine linen and tapestry; for their skill 
in architecture, and in the art of working metals and 



294 THE ISLAND WORLD 

ivory; and still more, for the incomparable -splendor 
and beauty of their purple dye. 

But the invention and dissemination of these highly 
useful arts, form but a part of what the people of 
Europe owe to the Phoenicians. 

It is not possible to say in what degree the relig- 
ion of the Greeks was borrowed from theirs, but that 
it was to a pretty large extent, seems abundantly cer- 
tain. Hercules, under the name of Melcarthus was 
the tutelar deity of Tyre, and his expeditions along 
the shores of the Mediterranean, and to the straits 
connecting it with the ocean, seem to be merely 
a poetical representation of the progress of the 
Phoenician navigators, who introduced arts and civ- 
ilization, and established the worship of Hercules 
wherever they went. 

The Greeks were, however, indebted to the Phoe- 
nicians, not merely for the rudiments of civilization, but 
for the great instrument of its future progress — the 
gift of letters. No fact in ancient history is better 
established than that a knowledge of alphabetic 
writing was first carried to Greece by Phoenician ad- 
venturers, and it may be safely affirmed that this was 
the greatest boon any people ever received at the 
hands of another. 

Before quitting this subject, we may briefly advert 
to the statement of Herodotus with respect to the cir- 
cumnavigation of Africa by Phoenician sailors. The 
venerable father of history states that a fleet fitted 
out by Necho, King of Egypt, but manned and com- 
manded by Phc^nicians, took its departure from a port 
on the Red Sea, at an epoch which is believed to cor- 
respond with the year 604, before the Christian era ; 
and that keeping always to the right, they doubled 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 29^ 

the southern promontory of Africa, and returned after 
a voyage of three years to Egypt, by the Pillars of 
Hercules. (Herod, lib, 4, p. 42.) Herodotus further 
mentions that they related that in sailing around Af- 
rica, they had the sun on the right hand, or to the 
north — a circumstance which he frankly acknowledges 
seemed incredible to him, but which, as every one is 
now aware, must have been the case, if the voyage was 
actually performed. 

Many learned and able writers, and particularly 
Gosselin (Reherches sur la Geographic Systematique 
et Positive des Anciens, vol. i, p. 204-217), have 
treated this account as fabulous. But the objections 
of Gosselin have been successfully answered in an 
elaborate note by Larcher (Herodote, vol. 3, pp. 458— 
464, ed. 1802); and Major Rennel has sufficiently 
demonstrated the practicability of the voyage. (Ge- 
ography of Herodotus, p. 682,) 

Without entering upon this discussion, we may 
observe that not one of those who question the au- 
thenticity of the account given by Herodotus, pre- 
sume to doubt that the Phoenicians braved the bois- 
terous seas on the coasts of Spain, Gaul and Britain, 
and that they had partially, at least, explored the 
Indian Ocean. But the ships and seamen that did 
this much, might, undoubtedly, under favorable circum- 
stances, double the Cape of Good Hope. The relation 
of Herodotus has, besides, such an appearance of good 
faith, and the circumstance which he doubts, of the 
navigators having seen the sun on the right, affords 
so strong a confirmation of its truth, diat there really 
seems no reasonable g-round for doubtinof that the 
Phoenicians preceded by 2,000 years Vasco de Gama 
in his perilous enterprise. 

(McCulloch, Diet, Com. and Commer. Nav., vol. 2.) 



2^6 THE ISLAND WORLD 

THE COMPASS. 

It has not been my purpose to trace navigation 
from its early dawn to the present time, in more than 
a general way, as thorough research and investiga- 
tion into this interesting subject would require a sep- 
arate volume. History of both ancient and modern 
times is so replete with the commercial ventures of 
countries, with accounts of voyages, discoveries and 
traffic, both by sea and land, that little doubt is left of 
the early knowledge and use of the compass, the in- 
vention and perfection of which is generally ascribed 
to a more modern period. 

The knowledge of the cardinal points, as well as 
the use, probably in a rude way, of that important 
little instrument, the compass, we can trace back 
among the Chinese for nearly 3,000 years B. c. The 
knowledge of the true north, with its curious attrac- 
tio;i and influence on the magnetic needle, turning 
and holding it at nearly right angles with the points 
of the rising and setting of the sun, was not only 
familiar and commented upon, but was put in prac- 
tical use by the ancients of the higher order of intel- 
ligence, like the Chinese, Phoenicians, Egyptians, 
Grecians and Japanese. 

The almost exact position retained in the heavens 
by the North Star, with the universe apparently 
sweeping in vast circles around it, must at first have 
been used as a guiding-point, while it would have 
been natural to take the opposite point for the other 
course. The other two points, east and west, were 
no doubt taken from the rising and setting of the 
sun, thus giving in a perfectly natural way the car- 
dinal points of the compass. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN ^P7 

PROPERTIES OF THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE. 

It has been supposed that many of the ventures 
performed by the ancients at sea were only made 
during the day, the mariners anchoring during the 
night, never venturing far from land, or a depth 
of water too great for anchorage. This theory, I do 
not think, will bear very close inspection, as stormy 
weather and a lee shore would have rendered any 
great voyages impossible. The knowledge and prac- 
tice of the ancients in mining and working the metals 
must have been considerable, as many of the writings 
of the fathers of literature will testify. The proper- 
ties of magnetic iron ore, the load-stone of ancient 
and modern times, its faculty of not only attracting 
iron and steel, but of imparting its polar peculiarities 
to these metals, must have formed a long and curious 
study, and ages may have passed before some genius 
first tried and tested, or discovered its unvarying ten- 
dency, when so placed as to be little retarded in its 
movements, of turning and placing itself at right 
angles with the rising and setting of the sun, and 
pointing to the north. These first experiments must 
have been made after the ore had been brought to a 
metallic form and the metal shaped in the form of a 
needle, much in use in the olden time for their knit- 
ting, embroideries, tapestries and lace-work, for which 
the ancients of the higher order were so justly cele- 
brated. 

BY WHOM INVENTED. 

Yet it is the common opinion, in our modern day, 
that the compass and its uses was the invention of 
Flavio Gioja, a citizen of the once famous republic of 



29S THE ISLAND WORLD 

Amalphi, very^ near the beginning of 1300 a. d. 
Many who wrote long years previous to this period, 
give abundant evidences of its knowledge and uses. 
Thus the great Spanish antiquary, Antonio de Capo- 
many, and the famous Raymond Lully, in writings 
published as early as 1272 a. d., go to show the exact 
uses made of the compass in navigation. In one 
place Lully says: ''as the needle when touched by the 
magnet naturally turns to the north;" and again, in 
another portion of his writings, he says: ''As the nau- 
tical needle direct mariners in their navigation ;" leav- 
ing us with the impression, as they were writing of 
periods many years anterior to 1 200 a. d., that the 
little compass was in common use among mariners 
and "those who go down to the sea in ships." 

In addition to the evident theoretical knowledge, 
of a portion at least, of the world's geography had by 
the Egyptian Ptolemies, they possessed maps and 
charts of all the regions known at that time. 

The voyages performed by Hanno, Hippeas and 
Pythias, many years previous to the Christian era, 
were not accomplished without considerable knowledge 
of geography and navigation. 

There is distinct mention made, in Chinese his- 
tory, of the compass points, not only at the time men- 
tioned above (2634 b. c), but on down to 121 a. d., and 
again in 265 and 419 a. d. The best authorities state, 
that the compass was introdticed into Europe in 1184 
a. d., while some writers ascribe its discovery to Gioja, 
at the commencement of 1 300 a. d. Dr. Gilbert states, 
that it was introduced into Italy, by Marco Polo, in 
1295. There is also evidence of its use in France in 
1 1 50, in Syria about the same time, and in Norway 
previous to 1266. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 299 



HOMER S KNOWLEDGE OF SHIP BUILDING. 

Now toils the hero ; trees on trees o'erthrown, 

Fall crackling around him, and the forests groan. 

Sudden, full twenty on the plain are strow'd, 

And lopp'd and lighten'd of their branchy load. 

At equal angles these disposed to join. 

He smoothed and squared them by rule and line. 

(The wimbles for the work, Calypso found,) 

With these he pierced them, and with clinchers bound. 

Long and capacious, as a shipwright forms 

Some bark's broad bottom, to outride the storms, 

So large he built the raft ; then ribb'd it strong, 

From space to space, and nail'd the planks along; 

These formed the sides ; the deck he fashioned last ; 

Then o'er the vessel raised the taper mast, 

With crossing sail-yards dancing in the wind ; 

And to the helm, the guiding rudder joined ; 

With yielding osiers fenced, to break the force 

Of surging waves, and steer the steady course. 

Thy loom. Calypso, for the future sails 

Supplied the cloth, capacious of the gales. 

With stays and cordage, last he rigged the ship, 

And, roll'd on levers, launch'd her in the deep. 

Pope's {Horner'^ Odyssey.) 

In the quotations presented, from the "Odyssey'" 
of Homer — -who was writinof at a time something: over 
eight hundred years previous to the Christian era, and 
describing events that took place about 1 200 b. c. — a 
famiharity, not only with ship building, but an astro- 
nomical knowledge, and its uses in navigation, is dis- 
played, that may justly excite wonder and admiration. 
Of the 1,152 ships Homer describes in the Iliad, as 
carrying troops, and participating in the Trojan war, 
not one is mentioned as relying solely on oars as a 
propelling power. All are described as sailing vessels, 
and under the guidance of experienced sailors and 
navigators, whose knowledge of navigation descended 
from previous ages 



^oo THE ISLAND WORLD 

EARLY NAVIGATORS OF THE PACIFIC. 

Anson, Lord George. — Born in England 1697; 
died 1762. Was in command and served on the east 
coast of America ; in 1739 was recalled on the out- 
break of the Spanish war; in 1740, sailed from Eng- 
land with eight men of war, to harrass the Spaniards 
in the South Seas, by way of Cape Horn ; crossed 
the Pacific with only one of his fleet, the Centurion, 
having lost most of his men through scurvy ; made 
some valuable captures and discoveries among the 
Pacific Islands, in addition to contributing through 
his journals, surveys and charts, a great deal of in- 
formation in regard to the Pacific ; served successfully 
against the French in 1 747, and was promoted through 
all the admiralty grades of the English Navy ; was the 
author of a book very celebrated in its day, entitled 
"Lord Anson's Voyage Round the World." 

Balboa, Vasco Nunez de. — Spanish soldier and 
navigator. Born in Lapan (by some authorities at 
Xeres, de les Cavalleros, Estramadura, Spain) in 1475, 
and beheaded at Castilla de Oro Darien (or at Ada, 
near there), in 15 17. He first sailed on the Atlantic 
with Bastidas, and afterwards with Enciso, agent of 
Ojeda, finally reaching Darien about 15 13. Jealousy 
and dissension among the leaders resulted in leaving 
Balboa in command, with the return of his rivals to 
Spain, where misrepresentation caused an order to be 
issued for his recall to that country. Meantime, Bal- 
boa had made many friends, among whom were native 
chiefs of the isthmus. His love of adventure, with a 
desire to conciHate the Spanish king, urged him to 
new exploits and adventures. This resulted from 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 301 

information communicated by one of the native chiefs 
in his overland journey across the isthmus, and the 
discovery (to him) of the Pacific Ocean, Septem- 
ber 26th, 15 13 (September 25th, 15 13 — Bancroft) y 
taking possession in the name of Spain. This re- 
sulted in his re-estabHshment in favor at court, and 
his creation to the rank of admiral and deputy gov- 
ernor. The viceroy Davila, of the new province, ar- 
rived at Darien some time in 15 14. Jealousies and 
dissension between the commanders continuing, Balboa 
(whose energy and restless daring ill-fitted him for a life 
of political intrigue), with great enterprise and labor 
transported the timbers and other materials of his ships 
across the isthmus. Rebuilding his vessel on the Pacific 
shore (in 15 15- 16- 17), sailing on the great sea and 
making many valuable discoveries, among others the 
Pearl Islands (and through tradition only), the wealth 
and location of Peru. Through the wiles of Davila, 
or Pedrarias, he was induced to return to Darien, and 
was beheaded, as a dangerous political offender. As 
Balboa is often credited with the discovery of the Pa- 
cific Ocean, it would be well to note (and not, how- 
ever, with all due respect and admiration for the ad- 
venturous Spaniard) the voyages of the celebrated 
Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, in the 13th century, 
and the voyages and discoveries of Post Commander 
Antonio d'Albreu and Francisco Serram, who first 
saw and noted the island of Papua, or New Guinea, 
in 151 1. The greatness of the man is too well estab- 
lished by history to require any additional glory from 
discoveries not justly belonging to him. The feat he 
performed in transporting the different parts of his 
vessels across a country, that, even to-day, is a laby- 
rinth of foliage and a net-work of almost impassable 



302 THE ISLAND WORLD 

mountains, ravines, and swamps, has never been sur- 
passed. Speaking of him, Herrera, who in his writings 
IS anything but enthusiastic, says: **No Hving man in 
all the Indies dared attempt such an enterprise, or 
would have succeeded in it, save Vasco Nuiiez de 
Balboa." 

Beechy, Frederick William. — Born in London 
in 1796; died in 1856. An English naval officer of 
great ability. Served in English Navy during wars 
with France and America. In 18 18 he was with 
Franklin, in Bucham's Arctic Expedition, and after- 
wards with Parry, in the voyage of the Hecla; served 
several years in the Pacific Ocean, making many val- 
uable surveys and discoveries ; passed through Beh- 
ring's Straits, reaching nearly 72 deg. north latitude. 
A man of great practical attainments, he made many 
valuable additions to geography, navigation, meteor- 
ology, hydrography, as well as some valuable con- 
tributions to literature ; made rear-admiral in English 
Navy in 1854, and President of the Geographical So- 
ciety in 1855. 

Banks, Sir Joseph. — Born in London in 1743, and 
died in 1820. Was a man of vast scientific attain- 
ments, explorer and voyager, from Labrador to New 
Foundland, and from Iceland and the Hebrides, to the 
Society Islands in the South Sea. He accompanied 
Captain Cook in his first voyage to the Pacific, to ob- 
serve the transit of Venus ; his valuable services in 
this voyage, occupying three years, opened up much 
that was new and useful to the scientific world. His 
discoveries, in natural history and botany, together 
with many valuable drawings and specimens and vast 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 303 

collection of books, he bequeathed to the British Mu- 
seum. He was made baronet in 1781, and received 
the Order of the Bath in 1795. 

Bougainville, Louis Antoine de. — Born In Paris 
in 1729; died there In 18 14. A celebrated author, 
politician, soldier and sailor, and the first French cir- 
cumnavigator of the globe. Was with Montcalm in 
Canada, as aid-de-camp ; set sail around the world in 
1766, passing through the Straits of Magellan, and 
through the Paumatou group, discovering new islands, 
arriving at Tahiti April 6th, 1768 ; visited the Samoan 
group, naming them the Navigators, called at the New 
Hebrides, and made a partial survey of the east coast 
of Australia; sailed through the Louisades and along 
the Solomon Archipelago, and harbored at Port Pras- 
lin, New Ireland. From there, after repairing his 
ships, he skirted the northern coast of New Guinea, 
discovered some new islands, and through the Mol- 
luccas, the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good 
Hope, reaching St. Malo in 1769, after an absence of 
about two years and four months ; published a 2-vol- 
ume account of his voyage In 177 1-2. In 1778, was in 
command in the French navy, and served against 
England, in the American War of Independence, with 
distinguished courage and ability. Planned several 
voyages to the Arctic Seas, but meeting with but 
little encouragement, resigned from the navy in 1 790 ; 
was afterwards ennobled by Napoleon I. 

Behring, Vitus — Born in Denmark in 1680, and 
died In 1741. He entered the Russian naval service 
in 1 704, and was made captain by Peter the Great, for 
distinguished services. He was placed in command 



304 THE ISLAND WORLD 

in 1725, of a voyage of discovery to the Arctic Seas; 
discovered the straits that bear his name, and the 
separation between Asia and America (in second voyage 
of 1728), outHning and surveying the coast of Siberia. 
He made a third voyage in 1741, on a North Polar 
expedition, r.eaching about 69 deg. north latitude, but 
owing to stress of weather and sickness among his 
crews, was compelled to return; was wrecked on 
Behring Island, in 55 deg. 22 min. north latitude, 166 
deg. east longitude, where he died, after going through 
all the hardships that could befall a castaway in the 
desolate Polar Seas. 

Byron, John. — Born November 8th, 1723, and 
died April loth, 1786. Served with Anson as mid- 
shipman ; was wrecked off the Patagonian coast, and 
lived on a desolate island in that region for five 
years (1740-46) ; publishing a narative of his suffer- 
ings in 1 768 ; was placed in command of an exploring 
exjiedition in 1764, making some important dis- 
coveries. As an accomplished sailor, he had few 
superiors, and as an author, met with success. His 
sons also were men of mark and ability, culminating 
in his grandson. Lord Byron, the poet. 

Carteret, Philip. — Was captain of the Szvallow, 
one of the vessels under Samuel Wallis, which sailed 
from England on a voyage of discovery to the South 
vSeas, August 2 2d, 1766; his second voyage was on 
private account, discovering and naming Gower and 
Carteret Isles, Queen Charlotte Isles, Pitcairn, etc., 
rediscovering and naming the Admiralty group, and 
returning to England in 1 769. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 305 

Cook, Captain Jame6. — Born in Yorkshire, En«^^- 
land, October 27th, 1728, and killed at Owyhee (now 
Hawaii), one of the Sandwich Islands, February 14th, 
1 799. First served at sea in merchant line, entering- 
the royal navy in 1755 ; was promoted rapidly through 
all the lower grades, and placed in command of the 
frigate Mercitry, one of the squadron, co-operating 
with General Wolfe at Quebec. His services there, 
as navigator, pilot and soldier,^were rewarded by a 
command of the flag-ship Northmtberland. His sur- 
veys of the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, with 
frequent publications of maps and charts, together 
with a minute account of his observations of an eclipse 
of the sun, placed him in the front rank, as a man of 
high attainments. In 1768, he sailed in command of 
the Endeavor, to observe the transit of Venus, from a 
position in the South Sea, selecting Tahiti, of the Soci- 
ety group, where he arrived April 13th, 1769. After 
successfully accomplishing the main object of the voy- 
age, he set sail on a general voyage of discovery, 
re-locating New Zealand, taking possession of the Aus- 
tralian coast, near Botany Bay, surveying and chart- 
ing some thirteen hundred miles of coast line, and 
establishing Australia as an Island, as well as its sepa- 
ration from Papua. After many adventures and es- 
capes, he returned to England in June 11, 1771, having 
sailed around the globe. In July 13th, 1772, he again 
sailed in command of the Resolution, and Adventure, 
to "circumnavigate the whole globe, In high southern 
latitudes, making traverses, from time to time, Into 
every part of the Pacific Ocean, which had not under- 
gone previous Investigation, and to use his best endea- 
vors to resolve the much agitated question of a sou- 
thern continent." In this voyage, he reached 71 deg. 



^o6 THE ISLAND WORLD 

lo min. south latitude, In io6 deg. 54 min. west longi- 
tude. After wintering at the Society Islands, Cook 
made some valuable surveys of the Pacific, between 
Easter Island and the New Hebrides, discovering and 
naming New Caledonia, etc. He returned to England, 
by the Cape of Good Hope, July 30th, 1775, being 
absent something over three years. In 1776, he vol- 
unteered to conduct an expedition to discover a north- 
west passage to Asia, which he proposed to attempt, 
by way of Behring Strait. Before sailing north, he 
spent some time in voyaging among the islands of the 
Pacific, discovering (it was supposed) the Sandwich 
Islands, in 1778. Sailing north, along the coast of 
North America, determining the most westerly portion 
of that country, and its distance from Asia, he reached 
Icy Cape, August 17th, 1778, where his further passage 
was barred by the ice. Returning to Sandwich Islands 
to winter, with the view of renewing the expedition 
when the weather permitted, he discovered the islands 
of Hawaii and Maui, of the Sandwich group. Having 
lost one of his small boats in one of the inlets of Ha- 
waii, stolen by the natives, he landed, with a lieutenant 
and nine men, to recapture it — or one of the chiefs, as 
hostage for its return ; a fight ensued, and Cook, with 
several of his men, were killed, their bones being 
recovered a week afterwards. That Cook, and the 
men killed with him, were devoured by the natives, is 
uncertain. 

Cavendish, Sir Thomas. — Born in Suffolk, Eng- 
land, in 1560; died at sea in 1592. His first voyage 
was to Virginia, in 1586; his second, was with three 
vessels, passing the Straits of Magellan in 1587, 
spending some time in surveys of the coast of South 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 307 

America; although the expedition was of piratical 
and buccaneering- tendencies, in which line they made 
quite a success, capturing several valuable Spanish 
vessels and burning and sacking the towns of Aca- 
pulco, Payta, etc. Cavendish then sailed across the 
Pacific to the Ladrone Islands, through the Indian 
Archipelago and Strait of Java, around the Cape of 
Good Hope, reaching England September 9th, 1588, 
being the third, to circumnavigate the globe; was 
knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and started on another 
voyage in 1591, which he failed to carry out on ac- 
count of sickness, mutinous crews, and finally his 
death, on the homeward passage. 

Dampier, William. — Born in England in 1652; 
date of death uncertain. Sailor, soldier, author, pilot 
and buccaneer. Crossed the Isthmus of Darien in 
1679, with a party of pirates, capturing several towns, 
pillaging and laying them in ruins ; captured several 
Spanish vessels also, with which they sailed along the 
South American coast, robbing and destroying many 
seaport towns. In 1684 he accompanied Captain John 
Cook on a piratical expedition, along the coast of 
Chili, Peru and Mexico ; afterwards crossed the Pa- 
cific Ocean, cruising among the islands of the In- 
dian Archipelago, arriving in England in 1691 ; pub- 
lished a book, his "Voyage Around the World." 
In 1699, sailed from England in command of sloop of 
war, on a voyage of discovery in the South Seas, ex- 
ploring the western coast of Australia, the coast of 
New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland and the Mol- 
luccas. On returning, was. wrecked off the island of 
Ascension, reaching England in 1701. Followed the 
sea up to 1 711. He published also *' A Treatise on 



So8 ~ THE ISLAND WORLD 

Winds and Tides," and a vindication of his voyage 
to the South Sea, in the ship St. Gforge, in 1707. 

Dana, James Dwight. — Born in Utica, N. Y.. 
February I2th, 1813. An American mineralogist and 
geologist, and author, of great ability. In December, 
1836, was appointed mineralogist and geologist to the 
American Exploring Expedition to the Southern At- 
lantic and Pacific Oceans, under Commodore Wilkes, 
sailing in 1838, and returning in 1842. His re- 
searches into the island formations of the South 
Sea, the shells, the coral, the volcanic formations, 
etc., show erudition and patient research, with prac- 
tical observing powers seldom surpassed. His works 
and contributions to science have been valuable and 
voluminous, being accepted authority in all parts of 
the civilized world. 

Darwin, Charles Robert. — Born in Shrewsbury, 
England, February 12th, 1809; sailed with Captain 
Fitzroy, in the Beagle, in his voyage around the world, 
as naturalist, in 1831, returning in 1836. During this 
voyage, Darwin examined the greater part of the 
South American coast ; many of the Pacific islands ; 
New Zealand and Australia being visited and exam- 
ined, as well as Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. An 
account of the voyage was published in 1839, Darwin 
contributing materially to the scientific value of the 
work. His works on coral reefs, volcanic islands, 
geology, zoology, with many other contributions to the 
cause of science, were followed by his '' Descent of 
Man," and "Selection in Relation to Sex," which 
have probably given him his greatest celebrity, or 
notoriety, 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 309 

Drake, Sir Francis. — Born in England, in 1545 ; 
(by some authorities, in 1539;) and died at sea, near 
Puerto Bello, December 27th, 1595. His first expedi- 
tion of any moment, was with Sir John Hawkins, in 
naval engagements, along the Atlantic seaboard, and 
in the Gulf of Mexico, with the Spaniards. While in 
Central America, like the greater and better man, Bal- 
boa, he saw the waters of the majestic Pacific, from one 
of the mountain peaks of the isthmus, resolving to 
make the mighty sea the scene of his future exploits. 
Receiving a roving commission from Elizabeth, in 
1577, he sailed through the Magellan Straits, pillag- 
ing a portion of the coasts of Chile and Peru ; sailing 
for North America, arriving at California, at Drake's 
Bay (now known to be a point, somewhat different 
from the Bay of San Francisco), where he took pos- 
session of California, in the name of Queen Elizabeth, 
in 1577. Having made some valuable captures from 
the Spaniards, and fearing to return as he came, he 
attempted the northeast passage to the Atlantic, but 
was driven back by the cold w^eather and impassable 
fields of ice. Sailing south, by Japan, the Phillippines, 
and through the Mollucca Islands, and across the 
Indian Ocean, he rounded the African cape, reaching 
England on the 3d of November, 1580 — the first Eng- 
lishman to circumnavigate the globe. His success 
met with speedy recognition by the Queen ; leading, 
finally, after many naval adventures on the Atlantic, to 
his appointment as Vice-Admiral, under Lord Howard. 
It has been supposed, that Drake was the discoverer 
of California, as well as the Bay of San Francisco. 
Where he landed, was Point Reyes — latitude, "^^ deg. 
59 min. 5 sec. north. Cabrillo is also credited with 
the discovery, about 1542; he locating and naming 



3IO THE ISLAND WORLD 

Cape Mendosa (now Mendocino). Cortez, in 1536, 
discovered the peninsula and Gulf of California. 

Cortez (or Cortes), Hern an (or Hernando). — 
Born in Medellin, Estramadura, in 1485, and died 
near Seville, December 2d, 1554. His first voyage of 
any note, was to San Domingo, and from there, in 
151 1, with Velasquez, to Cuba. He was appointed by 
the Governor to command an expedition to Mexico, 
to conquer and settle that country, which Grijalva, its 
Spanish discoverer, had failed to do. Cortez sailed 
from St. lago in 15 18, and landed on the coast in 15 19. 
Founding the town of Vera Cru^, he burned his ships, 
and marched for the interior; after many hardships 
and reverses, he completely subdued and conquered 
Mexico, in the decisive battles, with the natives, of 
1520--21. History and biography are so replete with 
this conquest, as well as of the minutest details of the 
life of the great Spanish adventurer, that but a short 
notice seems all that is necessary here. His discov- 
eries on the Pacific, the Gulf of California, and its 
survey, the location of the Peninsula of California, to- 
gether with several expeditions sailing under his pat- 
ronage, entitle him to a place among the early navi- 
gators of the South Sea. His varying fortunes left 
him to die, as above, in solitude and despair. 

Fernandez, Juan. — Navigator, pilot, and discov- 
erer in the Pacific. In 1563, he first sighted the island 
now bearing his name (celebrated in the annals of 
"Crusoe"), and Mas-a-fuera, afterwards granted to 
him by the Spanish government. In 1574, he discov- 
ered the islands of San Felix and San Ambrose, mak- 
ing many voyages and discoveries in the South Sea^ 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 311 

particularly the flow of the currents along the coast of 
South America. He is credited, sometimes, with being- 
one of the early discoverers of New Zealand and 
Australia. 

FiTZROY, Robert. — Born in England, July 5th, 
1805 ; died there, April 30th, 1865. Entered the navy 
in 1 819, serving in the Mediterranean, and at South 
American stations; in 1831, was placed in command 
of the Beagle, making a voyage around the world, 
being accompanied by the celebrated Darwin, as natu- 
ralist and geologist of the expedition; in 1843, was 
appointed governor and commander of the colony of 
New Zealand, where he served for three y^ars. He 
was the author of several works, contributing largely 
to meteorology, and establishing a system of storm 
warnings in 1862. 

Franklin, Sir John. — Born in Lincolnshire, Eng- 
land, April 1 6th, 1786, dying in the Arctic regions, on 
June nth, 1847 (as per records discovered byMcClin- 
tock, in his expedition to the Arctic, in 1859). Frank- 
lin served in the English navy, as a midshipman, in 
1 80 1, and in 1802 accompanied Captain Flinders in a 
voyage to the South Sea, to survey the coasts of Aus- 
tralia, occupying two years for its accomplishment. 
On the return, they were wrecked off the coast of Aus- 
tralia, barely escaping with their lives, fifty days being 
spent on a barren, sandy islet, before relief arrived. 
On his return to England, served with Nelson at 
Trafalgar, as signal midshipman to the fleet, in 1805, 
and afterwards on the American coast in 181 2-1 5. 
His first Arctic expedition was in 181 8, in command 
of the Trent with Captain Buchan, of the DorotJica. 



SI2 THE ISLAND WORLD 

They reached as high as 80 deg. north latitude, but, 
on account of an accident to Buchan's ship, were forced 
to return. In 18 19, was in command of an Arctic 
expedition overland from Hudson Bay, and in 1825 
was in command of a similar expedition, which was 
carried through with marked ability. Was knighted 
in 1829, receiving honors from many parts of the 
world. Served in command on the Mediterranean, 
and in i'^'i^6-\2i, was made Governor of Tasmania, or 
Van Diemen's Land. In 1845, ^^^ placed in com- 
mand of an Arctic expedition, to discover the north- 
west passage, being his fourth visit to that region. He 
was last seen by an American ship captain on July 
26th, 1845, ^^^ his ^^^^ remained unknown up to 
McClintock's discovery, as above (1859). 

Humboldt, F^rederick H. Alexander, Baron von. 
— Born in Berlin September 14th, 1769 ; died May 6th, 
1859. One of the most celebrated men of his day. 
In the arts and sciences he was far advanced ; a orreat 
leader in astronomy, finance, chemistry, natural philos- 
ophy, mineralogy, natural history and geography. He 
w^as in addition, one of the world's greatest travelers, 
making many journeys, overland and by sea. In Eu- 
rope, including many thousands of miles of overland 
journeyings in Russia, in North and and South Amer- 
ica, on both coasts ; now in Brazil, again in Chili and 
Peru, surveying and marking out the sources of the 
Orinoco and Amazon rivers, or climbing the great peaks 
of Chimborazo and Pichincha. Always energetic, in- 
domitable and untiring, his many intellectual attain- 
ments opened nature's secrets to him, which he read, 
as from a great book. Again in Mexico, and then in 
the United States, establishing the accepted theory of 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 313 

the great volcanic fire-belt, marking out the earth's 
surface in isothermal lines, so as to compare the 
world's varying climatic conditions, nothing escaped 
his wonderful observing powers, or was misapplied or 
mislaid in die vast storehouse of his wonderful mem- 
ory. Crowning his life with that great work "Kos- 
mos," he died full of days, honored and regretted all 
over the world. 



Magellan, Fernando. — Born at Oporto, Portu- 
gal in 1470, and killed at Mactan, a small island in the 
Phillippine group, April 27th, 152 1. He made sev- 
eral voyages from Portugal to India, and the islands 
of the Eastern Archipelago. On August loth, 15 19, 
an expedition from Spain sailed under command of 
Magellan, to reach the Spice Islands by a western 
route. It is supposed by many authorities that Ma- 
gellan, in the course of his maritime career, had met 
with an old map of South America, delineating a 
route across its southern portion, of which he availed 
himself in his voyage. His first attempt was by way 
of the Rio Plata. Failing in this, he skirted the shore 
until the ocean cut-off was reached and passed, in the 
latter part of 1520, naming Tierra del Fuego, and 
from the smooth waters first met with on the great 
ocean — the Pacific. Sailing north, he crossed the line 
on' February 13th, 1521, reaching the Ladrones and 
Phillippines in March of that year. His great desire 
for the religious advancement of the natives at Mac- 
tan, where he insisted on baptising one of the chiefs 
and his followers, terminating in a quarrel, resulted 
in the death of Magellan. The remainder of the ex- 
pedition, under Caraballo, sailed for the Spice Islands, 
touching at Borneo and other islands of the Archi- 



314 THE ISLAND WORLD 

pelago; finally, making a station at one of the Mol- 
luccas. Here, one of the vessels, Victoria, was put 
in repair, provisioned and placed under command of 
Sebastian del Cano (Magellan's pilot), who continued 
the voyage, reaching Spain in 1522, after an absence 
of nearly three years. This is the first circumnaviga- 
tion of the globe of which there is authentic record. 

KoTZEBUE, Otto von. — Born in 1787, and died 
in 1846. First sailed with the Russian Admiral Kru- 
senstern around the world. He made his second voy- 
age in command in 181 5, for explorations in the 
Arctic and Pacific Oceans. Many islands ' were vis- 
ited, and some discoveries made, returning in 1818. 
In 1823 he again sailed in command, visiting many 
of the more important island groups in the Pacific 
and the Russian settlements in Kamptchatka, and 
returning to Cronstadt in 1826. This latter voyage 
was one of vast importance, many corrections being 
made in the latitudes and longitudes of places, as 
well as additions to the botanical knowledge of the 
world, with much that threw light on the history of 
people of the countries visited. 

Krusenstern, Adam J. — Russian navigator and 
admiral. Born in Esthonia, November, 1770, and 
died at Revel, August 24th, 1846. Served as mid- 
shipman in the war with Sweden, and afterwards with 
the English fleet, visiting America, China and India ; 
sailed in command for Russia in 1803, with a view to 
extend and create commerce with the Asiatic coun- 
tries, particularly China and Japan, returning in 1806; 
he voyaged by way of Cape Horn, and returned by 
the Cape of Good Hope, this being the first Russian 
expedition to sail around the world. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN j'S 

Perry, Matthew Calbraith. — Born in Kingston, 
R. I., in 1795, and died in New York in 1858. Served 
in U. S. Navy as midshipman as early as 1809; was 
under Commodores Rodgers and Decatur ; was made 
captain in 1837, and in command of the squadron on 
the coast of Africa, and of the fleet in the Gulf of 
Mexico, during the Mexican war. In 1852 he sailed 
in command of the expedition to Japan, where he 
distinguished himself in accomplishing an important 
treaty with that country in 1854. 

PiZARRO, Francisco. — Born in Spain in 1471, and 
was killed in a quarrel at Lima, Peru, June 26th, 
1 541. Was conqueror of Peru and the founder of 
Lima; served with Ojeda, Balboa, and afterwards 
under Pedrarias, governor of Darien ; he made sev- 
eral expeditions along the coast of South America, 
but with no important results, except the knowledge 
he gained of the wealth and fertility of Peru. It was 
not until 1531, under commission from Charles V. of 
Spain, when he sailed for Peru, that he finally succeeded 
in the conquest of that country. He had considerable 
ability as a soldier, and was skillful as a navigator, 
although his voyages and discoveries were few and 
unimportant. His first knowledge of Peru, with the 
conquest of the land of the Incas, are elaborately de- 
tailed, in history and biography. 

La Perouse, Jean F. de Galaup. — A French nav- 
gator; born August 22d, 1741, in France; died (sup- 
posed) at the island of Vanikoro, one of the Santa 
Cruz group. South Pacific, in 1788 or 1789. Entered 
the French navy at an early age, serving with varying 
fortunes against the English, and subsequently in the 



3i6 THE ISLAND WORLD 

American War of Independence. Under Louis VI., 
he fitted out the two frigates, Astrolabe and Boussole, 
and sailed for the Pacific August ist, 1785, by way of 
Cape Horn. He explored the North American coast, 
from Mount St. Elias, Alaska, as far south as Mon- 
terey, sailing thence for Asia. In i^^'] he partially 
surveyed the channels among the Phillippines, the 
China Sea, Japan, to the Russian possessions in the 
north, sending his charts, journals and observations 
to France. In the latter part of the same year, he 
sailed for the South Sea, touching at Maouna, one 
of the Samoa Islands, losing the commander of the 
Astrolabe and many men in a conflict with the na- 
tives. From here he sailed for Botany Bay, Aus- 
tralia, where he forwarded an account of his voyages 
and discoveries to the French minister, also explain- 
ing and mapping out his intentions for the future — 
dated at Botany Bay, February 7th, 1788. This 
was the last communication ever received from the 
French admiral, his fate remaining a mystery to-day. 
In 1 791 a French squadron, under Admiral D'Entre- 
casteaux, sailed in search of the missing navigator, 
but failed in making any discoveries. D'Urville, who 
was at Hobart Town in 1828, learned through informa- 
tion brought by an American ship captain, of the re- 
mains of wrecks existing at Vanikoro Island. His 
researches broucrht to liorht the fact that Perouse's 
vessels had been wrecked on the reefs, and those of 
his crew who had not been drowned or murdered by 
the inhabitants, succeeded in building a small vessel 
from the wreck, and sailed for parts unknown. The 
anchors and cannons found at Vanikoro, afterwards 
taken to France, fully attest the unfortunate ending of 
the noble admiral's voyage. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCFAN 317 

Polo, Marco. — A Venetian, sailor, author and 
traveler; born about 1254, and died in 1324. In 1271 
Polo started with his father (Nicolo Polo, and Maffeo 
his uncle) on an overland tour of China and other 
countries of Asia, where many years of his life was 
spent in mercantile and other pursuits, as well as 
frequent journeyings throughout the Asiatic world 
located south of Russia. Before terminating his 
travels, one of the great desires of a busy life, was 
to continue his explorations by sea, which was gratified 
by his voyage to Japan, called in his day Zipangtc. 
His return to his native land was by way of the Phil- 
lippine. Spice and the islands of Java, Sumatra, Bor- 
neo, Ceylon, Madagascar, etc., and some points on 
the east coast of Africa, thence back by way of the 
Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and landing in Persia. 
The journey was continued overland to the Black Sea, 
where a vessel was obtained to convey them to 
Venice, arriving there in 1295. Polo's account of 
his voyages and experiences were received with gen- 
eral derision and doubt, although the full particulars 
of his adventures were not finished and published 
till 1298. . His work was dictated to a fellow prisoner 
in Genoa, where Marco was held in durance for sev- 
eral years by the Genoese, as a prisoner of war, hav- 
ing served with the Venetians in an expedition against 
that country. Polo's work was regarded as a well 
concocted fable, and the slow processes of time, with 
gradual discoveries being made by sea and land, were 
necessary to prove the truth of his statements. His 
accounts of Cathay, Zipangu, the islands, the spices, 
silks and precious stones, met with in his wanderings, 
were received with grave deprecation and doubt, 
which the practical evidences of wealth brought back 



3i8 THE ISLAND WORLD 

with him could not shake. True, many of the things 
related by him were painted with collateral writing 
that came from tradition, much as we see in many 
publications of the present time. Probably a better 
idea of the meaning I wish to convey would be had 
by an example of his writings (one evidently colored, 
the other as near the truth as limited knowlege would 
permit), taken from Murray's edition of ''The travels 
of Marco Polo," published in 1858. He (Polo) says: 
Having described so many inland provinces, I will 
now enter upon India, with the wonderful objects in 
that region. The ships in which the merchants navi- 
gate thither are made of fir, with only one deck, but 
many of them are divided beneath into sixty compart- 
ments, in each of which a person can be conveniently 
accommodated. They have one rudder and four masts, 
while some have two additional, which can be put up 
and taken down at pleasure. Many of the largest 
have besides as many as thirteen divisions in the hold, 
formed of thick planks mortised into each other. 
The object is to guard against accidents, which may 
cause the vessel to spring a leak, such as striking on 
a rock or being attacked by a whale. This last cir- 
cumstance is not unusual, for during the night the 
motion of the ship through the waves raises a foam 
that invites the hungry animal, which, hoping to find 
food, rushes violently against the hull, and often forces 
in part of the bottom. The water entering by the leak 
runs on to the well, which is always kept clear, and 
the crew, on perceiving the occurrence, remove the 
goods from the inundated division, and the boards are 
so tight that it cannot pass to any other. They then 
repair the injury and replace the articles. Again 
in describing Japan and the myriads of islands of that 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 319 

country, together with the Phillippine group and the 
Archipelago of Chusan, he says: You must know 
that the gulf containing this island (one of the large 
islands of Japan) is called that of Zin, meaning, in 
their language, the sea opposite to Manji. Accord- 
ing to skillful and intelligent mariners who have made 
the voyage, it contains 7,448 isles, mostly inhabited. 
In all these there grows no tree which is not agreea- 
bly fragrant and also useful, being equal or superior in 
size to the lignum aloes. They produce also many and 
various spices, including pepper, white like snow, as 
well as the black. They yield also much gold, and 
various other wonderful and costly productions, but 
they are very distant and difficult to reach.* The 
mariners of Zai-tun and Kin-sai, who visit them, gain 
indeed great profits ; but they spend a year on the 
voyage, going in winter and returning in summer, 
for the wind in these seasons blows from only two 
different quarters, one of which carries them thither 
and the other brings them back.-j- But rhis country 
is immensely distant from India. You may observe, 
too that though they be called Zin, it is really the 
ocean, just as we say the sea of England, the sea 
of Rochelle. The Great Khan has no power over 



(* The number of islands stated is doubtless fanciful and exag- 
gerated ; yet when we consider the various groups composing the Ori- 
ental Archipelago, many consisting of numerous islets, the whole 
amount must be very great. They are, as we have justly noticed, pro- 
ductive beyond any other part of the world in aromatic and odoriferous 
plants, also very rich in gold. — Murray, p. 243.) 

(t The distance would not be very formidable to a British mariner, 
but is otherwise to the ruder Chinese navigator ; while this sea, too, is 
tempestuous and dangerous. The junks still perform only one voyage 
in the year, and as here correctly stated, sail in the winter, with the 
northeast monsoon, and return in summer with the southwest one. — 
MarsdeUy p. 5^-?.) 



320 THE ISLAND WORLD 

these islands. Now let us return to ZaI-tun, and re- 
sume our narrative. In truth, Polo so rounded up 
his narrative of travels and voyages, with the varied 
traditions and fireside tales of the countries he vis- 
ited (as his story of the ''Griffin," the "Old Man of 
the Mountain," and "the birds carrying out the dia- 
monds, adhering to pieces of flesh thrown in the 
valley of Golconda"), that the many truths he re- 
lated seemed but a part of the fiction. Yet in 
geography, history, chronology, the manners and cus- 
toms of the people met with, he is in the main, 
correct. The grand results that may be said to have 
sprung from the travels and voyages of the wander- 
ing Venetian — the voyages of Columbus, Cabot, Ves- 
pucci, da Gama, and many other noted navigators — 
grew out of the writings of Polo. Of Columbus it 
is truly said, his aims were nothing less than the dis- 
covery of the marvelous province of Cipango, and 
the conversion to Christianity of the Grand Khan, to 
whom he received a royal letter of introduction. 
The main object of Columbus, his dreams and the- 
ories alike urging him on, was to reach the land of 
gold, spices, silks and precious stones, by a west- 
ern route, to find the land of Marco Polo — Cipangn, 
If we glance back fully six hundred years, and mark 
the course of the daring Venetian, or if we look 
around at the majestic grandeur of the New World, 
and credit him with but a portion of the results, the 
voyages of later discoverers, we should accord him 
the first page in the history of modern times. 

OuiROS, Pedro Fernando de. — A celebrated Por- 
tuguese navigator, born in Elvere. Atlentejo, in 1560. 
and died in Panama, in 1614. . In 1595, joined the expe- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 321 

dition of Alvaro Mendana, sailing from the New World, 
as naviirator. Mendana had under him four vessels 
and four hundred men, it beine his desigfn to visit and 
colonize the Solomon Islands, discovered by him in a 
previous voyage, in 1567. In their voyage across the 
Pacific, he found, in addition to the discovery of some 
smaller islands, the group named by him Marquesas, 
in honor of the wife of Mendoza. Sailinof from this 
cluster, they were caught in a tempest, damaging the 
fleet, and resulting in the loss of the admiral's vessel. 
Discouraofed and disheartened at this misfortune, the 
crews mutinied, forcing Mendana to sacrifice many of 
the lives of his men and officers, and through remorse 
and regret, dying himself, September 17th, 1595. 
Quiros now took command of the expedition, and, 
after discovering many populous and fertile islands, 
proceeded to Manila, reaching that port, February 
nth, 1596, with the squadron in a dilapidated and 
sinking condition. From Manila, Ouiros returned to 
Mexico, and then to Peru, with a view to raising an- 
other expedition, to follow up the discoveries of Men- 
dana and himself. Failing in this, he sailed for Spain, 
where his representations to Philip III, with the desire 
to discover the great Austral continent (Ouiros prob- 
ably being the first to represent its existence), resulted 
in his return to Peru, authorized to equip two vessels 
and a corvette. This being accomplished, he sailed 
from Callao, in command, with Louis de Vaes de Torres 
as second, December 21st, 1605. During the voyage, 
many islands were discovered, the Society group being 
among them, and getting a glimpse of what he sup- 
posed to be Australia, hut afterwards proved to be the 
New Hebrides Islands. Durinor a' violent storm. Ouiros 
and Torres became separated; the former returning to 



322 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Mexico in 1606, while the latter continued his voyage 
of discovery, to the north and west. In his voyage 
north, Torres discovered the straits that bear his name, 
and skirted the coast of New Guinea for eight hundred 
leagues. 

Quiros still had a desire to discover and see the 
unknown land (Australia), and made another trip to 
Spain, to enlist royal favor in a new expedition. Fail- 
ing in this, he returned to Panama, where his life passed 
away in futile efforts to accomplish dreams of new dis- 
coveries and conquests in the South Sea. The last of 
that coterie of daring soldiers and navigators of the 
sixteenth century, his life ebbed away within sight and 
sound of the surf waves of the Pacific. The memoirs 
of Quiros, addressed to Philip III, published in 
Seville in 1610, clearly depict the type of men, who 
gave Spain her former wealth and glory in the New 
World. 

Rogers, Woods. — English navigator ; in the Royal 
Navy in 1708, and sailed in command on a voyage 
around the world, from Cork Harbor, September ist, 
1708. After rounding Cape Horn, Rogers sighted, 
and made a landing at, the island of Juan Fernandez, 
January 31st, 1709. Captain Rogers relates: Our 
yawl, which we had sent ashore, did not return as soon 
as we expected; so we sent our pinnace (armed) to 
-see the occasion of her stay. The pinnace returned 
immediately from the shore, and brought abundance 
of craw-fish, with a man clothed in goat-skins, who 
looked more wild than the first owners of them. He 
liad been on the island four years and four months ; 
liis name was Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, who 
Iiad been master of the Cinque Ports Galley, a ship 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 323 

which came here with Captain Dampier, who told me 
that this was the best man in her ; so I immediately 
agreed with him to be mate on board our ship. It was 
he that made the fire last night, judging our ships to 
be Enorlish. 

o 

Rogers continued his voyage from Juan Fernan- 
dez, by way of Guayaquil, the Galapagos, and the 
North American coast, making several valuable cap- 
tures of Spanish galleons. From California, the expe- 
dition sailed across the Pacific to the Phillippines, and 
through the Molluccas, anchoring at Batavia. From 
thence, across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of 
Good Hope, reaching the Thames, October 14th, 171 1. 
Captain Rogers wrote an account of his voyage around 
the world, of which he says: This voyage being only 
designed for cruising on the enemy, it is not reason- 
able to expect such accounts in it, as are to be met 
with in books of travels relating to history, geography, 
and the like. Something of that, however, I have in- 
serted, to oblige the booksellers, who persuaded me 
that this would make it more grateful to some sort of 
readers. He died in 1732. 

Saavedra, Alvaro or Alonzo de. — Was born 
about the beginning of the sixteenth century. A rela- 
tive of Hernando Cortez, whom he accompanied to 
Mexico, he was alike a daring soldier and experienced 
navigator. ' Was sent in command of a small squad- 
ron, by Cortez, in 1526, for minor explorations in the 
South Sea, and afterwards ordered by Spain to cross 
the Pacific to the Spice Islands, on a voyage of discov- 
ery. Although the main object assigned, was the relief 
of Garcia de Loalsa, who had sailed from Corunna, in 
the track of Magellan, in 1525. He made some Impor- 



324 THE ISLAND WORLD 

tant discoveries and observations during the voyage, 
adding much to the knowledge, slowly accumulating, 
in reofard to the Pacific. Saavedra went down, with 
his vessel, in a hurricane, on the equator. 

As something has already been said of Saavedra, 
in different parts of this work, briefly giving an insight 
into his daring character, it would be but a repetition 
to recall it here. 

In 1529, Saavedra, returning towards New Spain, 
had sight of land in two degrees south, and ran along 
it above five hundred leagues, w^hen he saw people of 
black, curled hair, called Papua; but, having sailed 
four or five degrees to the south, he returned toward 
the north, and discovered an isle, which he called the 
Isle of Painted People. And a little beyond it, in ten 
or twelve degrees, he found many low, small isles, full 
of palm trees and grass, which he called las jardines. 
The natives wear w^hite cloth, made of grass ; never 
saw fire ; eat cocoas and fish, and dig boats with shells. 
Saavedra, perceiving the weather to be good, sailed 
towards the firm land and city of Panama, there to 
unload the cloves and merchandise he had, which might 
be carried in carts four leagues, to the River Chagres, 
which is said to be navigable into the North Sea, not 
far from Nomh^e de Dios; by which all goods might be 
brought a shorter way than round about the Cape of 
Good Hope. 

(John Harris: Collection of Voyages and Travels. London, 1705. 
Page 272.) 

ScHOUTEN, William Cornelius. — A celebrated 
Dutch navigator, who died in 1625. He was the dis- 
coverer of the Schouten Islands, rediscovered by Car- 
teret, who named them Admiralty. His principal 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 323 

voyage was in 161 5, in command of the Concordia, An 
account of his expedition and adventures, in company 
with the intrepid Lemaire, was pubHshed in Amster- 
dam, in 1617. 

ScHOUTEN, Gautier. — A Dutch -navigator, who 
died in 1680. He was in the service of the Dutch 
East India Company, cruising principally among the 
islands of the East Indian Archipelago. A man of rare 
ability in his day, with a practical knowledge of the 
waters and islands of Western Oceanica, that served 
materially in establishing the foothold obtained by the 
Dutch in the Pacific. He published an account of his 
voyages, at Amsterdam, in 1676. 

Tasman, Abel Jansen. — Was born about 1600; 
time and manner of his death unknown. In the early 
part of his career, he served with the Dutch East India 
Company, in Japanese and Chinese waters, and later 
on, as a cruiser among the islands. In 1642, he was 
employed by the governor of the above company, to 
command in a voyage of discovery to the south of the 
line, and to ascertain the extent, if possible, of Aus- 
tralia, then known as New Holland. On the 24th of 
November, in the above year, he discovered the island 
of Tasmania, naming it Van Diemen's Land. The 
voyage, which occupied ten months, was one of some 
importance, as Tasman discovered New Zealand, the 
Fiji and Friendly groups, besides obtaining much val- 
uable data in regard to Australia and New Guinea. 
He made a second voyage in 1644, ^^i^h the intention 
of circumnavigating New Guinea and New Holland, 
of which there is no authentic data. 



326 THE ISLAND WORLD 

Vancouver, George. — Born in England in 1758 ; 
died there, May 10th, 1798. First sailed with Captain 
James Cook, in his second and third voyages ; was made 
lieutenant, and served for some years in the West Indies. 
His fourth voyage was made in command in 1 791, to the 
British possessions in Western North America, which 
he reached, after touching at the Sandwich Islands, in 
1792, w^hen he took possession of Vancouver Island, 
and made many valuable charts from his surveys of 
the northern coasts, as well as the settlement of some 
complications that had sprung up, in regard to Van- 
couver Island. During his surveys of the northern 
coast, his winters were spent in the Sandwich Islands. 
Returned to England in 1795, surveyed and made 
many valuable notes of the west coast of South Ame- 
rica, on his way back. 

Wilkes, Charles. — Born in New York in 1801 ; 
served as midshipman in the U. S. Navy, in the Medit- 
erranean, in 1816, and on the Pacific in 182 1-3. On 
August 1 8th, 1838, sailed in command of a United 
States exploring expedition, to the South Adantic and 
Pacific Oceans, with five vessels and one store ship, 
visiting, surveying and exploring many islands , of the 
Pacific, and with the many scientific men under him, 
making a valuable record, and important discov- 
eries in both oceans. In 1840, the squadron arrived 
at the Fiji Islands and the Hawaiian group, where the 
scientific observations, maps and charts made, have 
contributed a irreat deal to a correct knowledee of the 
Pacific. In 1841, sailed to the northwest coast of 
America, partially exploring the Columbia and Sacra- 
mento Rivers, and the Bay of San Francisco. In the 
same year, sailed from the latter harbor, visitinor the 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 327 

Phillippines, Borneo, the Molluccas, Singapore, etc., 
crossing the Indian Ocean, rounding the Cape of Good 
Hope, calHng at the island of St. Helena, and other 
points of interest in the Atlantic ; reaching New York, 
January loth, 1842. Wilkes was the author of many 
important works, while the voluminous records kept 
of the expedition, and published by our Government, 
contain an immense amount of valuable information. 
Wilkes took part in the United States Civil War, serv- 
ing with marked ability, and was created rear-admiral 
on the retired list, July 25th, 1866. 



S28 THE ISLAND WORLD 



CHAPTER XX. 



lSl,AI«iD MISCKl^I^AItiY, AP(D DHPXHS OK XHH SHA. 



Skill' d in the globe and sphere, he gravely stands, 
And, with his compass, measures seas and lands. 

Dryden {Sixth Satire of Juvenal). 

THERE are many points of interest to be glanced 
at, still, on the Pacific Ocean, a few of which I 
note below, before concluding with the depths 
of the sea. 

NORFOLK ISLAND. 

This island, located in latitude 28 deg. 58 min. 
south, and longitude 167 deg. 46 min. east, something 
over one thousand miles northeast from Sydney, has a 
population, at present, of not over five hundred peo- 
ple, and an area of about fifteen square miles. It is 
the principal of a group of small islets, known as the 
Bird Islands. It is put down as one of Cook's discov- 
eries, in 1774. The surface is extremely rugged, 
standing high above the ocean level. In fact, so pre- 
cipitous are its sides, that but two landing places are 
to be found, indenting the shores, and these danger- 
ous, from the baffling currents and heavy surf. A 
portion of the lands, back from the coast, is ver)^ fer- 
tile, nearly all the products of tropical and temperate 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 329 

regions growing luxuriantly. The island was not 
made a point of interest till 1787, when it was settled 
by convicts and ticket-of-leave men from Australia. 
In 1825, it was made a penal colony by that country, 
but finally abandoned in 1855. It was granted to the 
descendants of the Bounty mutineers, in 1857. A part 
of their number (about one hundred) became dissatis- 
fied, and returned to Pitcairn. I am told that, on some 
parts of the island, there is a perfect network of under- 
ground workings, such as tunnels, shafts, etc., made 
by the prisoners, more to occupy the time of a horrible 
existence, than for any other purpose. 

THE CHATAM GROUP. 

Between latitudes 43 deg. 30 min., and 45 deg. 20 
min. south, and longitudes 176 deg. 10 min., and 177 
deg. 20 min. west — about six hundred miles to the 
east of New Zealand, and under the same rule, are the 
Chatam Islands. There are fifteen in the group, if we 
count the islets, with an area of about eight hundred 
square miles, and a population not exceeding five hun- 
dred. Chatam, Southeast and Pitt, are of some impor- 
tance, growing all the products of temperate climes, 
when properly cultivated. 

Through wars with the Maoris of New Zealand, 
the inhabitants have almost disappeared, and agriculture 
neglected, leaving little to be found of interest, outside 
of the bleak comforts of a South Sea whaling station. 

The geological formation is that of New Zealand ; 
the soil very fertile, but without the extensive floral 
growth of the former. Some curious lakes and lagoons, 
of brackish water, are found here — often many miles 
in extent, and separated from the sea, at some points, 



330 THE ISLAND WORLD 

by barriers of sand, but a few hundred yards in width. 
Innumerable aquatic birds make of these a favorite 
resort. Whaling, and other fisheries, form the princi- 
pal interest of the group at present. The islands were 
discovered in 1791, by Lieutenant Broughton, who 
named them after the vessel he commanded. 



PONAPE OR ASCENSION ISLAND. 

This, the principal of a group of the eastern Car- 
olines (already briefly alluded to), lies within latitude 
6 deg. 43 min. north, and longitude 158, and 158 deg. 
30 min. east. In addition to its being one of the prin- 
cipal stations of the Congregational Missions in the 
South Sea, considerable interest has been attached to 
the island, from the remains of ancient ruins, and other 
evidences of a former civilization, being found there. 
Of these, Captain Cheyne says : 

Near Metalanien Harbor are some interesting 
ruins, which are, however, involved in obscurity; the 
oldest inhabitants being ignorant of their origin, and 
having no tradition bearing any reference to their his- 
tory. That a fortified town once stood upon this spot, 
and not built by savages, cannot be doubted ; the st^'le 
of the ruins giving strong proofs of civilization. Some 
of the stones measure eight to ten feet in length, are 
squared on six sides, and have evidently been brought 
thither from some civilized country, there being no 
stones on the island, similar to them.* Streets are 
formed in several places, and the whole town appears 



* It has already been stated, in this work, that the material from 
which former buildings, fortifications, monuments, statuary, etc., had 
been constructed here, and at Stroni^ and Easter Islands, was found in 
quarries in the interior. 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 331 

to have been a succession of fortified houses. Several 
artificial caves were also discovered within the fortifi- 
cations. 

This town was, doubtless, at one time, the strong- 
hold of pirates ; and, as the natives can give no account 
of it, it seems possible that it was built by Spanish 
buccaneers, some two or three centuries ago. The 
supposition is confirmed by the fact, that, about three 
or four years ago, a small brass cannon was found on 
one of the mountains, and taken away by H. M. S. 
Lame. Several clear places are also to be seen, a little 
inland, at different parts of the island, some of which 
are. many acres in extent, clear of timber, and perfectly 
level. Upon one of these plains, called K-pau, near 
Kiti (Roan Kiddi) Harbor — and which I have fre- 
quently visited — is a large mound, about twenty feet 
wide, eight feet high, and a quarter of a mile in length. 
This must evidently have been thrown up for defense^ 
or as a burial place for the dead, after some great 
battle. Similar ruins are to be found at Strong Island, 
of which the natives can give no account. 

STRONG ISLAND. 

Kusaie (Ualan) or Strong Island, at the eastern 
extremity of the Carolines, was discovered and named 
by Captain Crozer, an American, in 1804. It has b'een 
regarded with some interest, of late days, in the hope, 
that the ruins and monuments found there, might afford 
an explanation or clue to the origin of the ancient 
island races. In speaking of Pane Bay, the principal 
harbor, Captain Hammet describes some remains of 
stone architecture (also alluded to by D'Urville), which 
was the subject of much speculation ; but Dr. Gullick 



332 THE ISLAND WORLD 

ascertained, that they were not ancient, but were built 
for protection, and in some cases as monuments/ 

OCEAN ISLAND. 

Located in 28 deg. 22 min. north latitude, and 178 
deg. 27 min. west longitude — w^ith its surroundings of 
dangerous barrier reefs, and comprised of barren sand 
dunes, is unimportant, except for the dangers offered 
to the navigator. It is made historical, as the scene 
of the wrecks of th*^ Gladstone, the American whale 
ship Parker y and the Saginaw, of the United States 
Navy. Another island, about one degree below the 
line, and south from the Marshall group, known as 
Ocean Island, with still another of the same name (the 
northernmost of the Enderby group), should suggest 
a change of the name of two of the islands, with a like 
change on maps and charts of the Pacific, to prevent 
confusion. 

THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN. 

We dive, says Schleiden, into the liquid crystal of 
the Indian Ocean (a description serving alike for the 
tropical Atlantic and Pacific), and it opens to us the 
most wondrous enchantments, reminding us of fairy 
tales in childhood's dreams. The strangely branch- 
ing living thickets bear living flowers. Dense masses 
of Meandrinas and Astraeas, with the leafy, cup-shaped 
expansions of the Explanarias, the variously ramified 
Madrepores, which are now spread out like fingers, 
now rise in trunk-like branches, and now display the 
most elegant array of interlacing branches. The col- 
oring surpasses everything — vivid green alternates 
with brown or yellow ; rich tints of purple, from pale 
red-brown to the deepest blue ; brilliant rosy, yellow 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN jjj 

or peach-colored Nulllpores overgrow the decay ing; 
masses, and are diemselves interwoven with the 
pearl-colored plates of the Reptipores. resembling" 
the most delicate ivory carvings. Close by, wave the 
yellow and lilac fans, perforated like trellis-work of 
the Goreonias. The clear sand of the bottom is 
covered with the thousand strange forms and tints 
of the sea-urchins and star-fishes. The leaf-like flus- 
tras and escharas adhere like mosses and lichens to 
the branches of the corals ; the yellow, green and 
purple striped limpets cling like monstrous cochineal 
insects upon their trunks. Like gigantic cactus-blos- 
soms, sparkling in the most ardent colors, the sea- 
anemones, expand their crowns of tentacles upon the 
broken rocks, or more modestly embellish the flat 
bottom, looking like beds of variegated ranunculuses. 
Around the blossoms of the coral shrubs play the 
humming-birds of the ocean, little fishes sparkling 
with red or blue metallic glitter, or gleaming in golden 
green, or in the brightest silvery luster. Softly, like 
spirits of the deep, the delicate milk-white or bluish 
bells of the jelly-fishes float through this charmed 
world. Here, the gleaming violet and gold-green 
Isabelle, and the flaming yellow, black and vermillion 
striped coquette chase their prey; there, the band- 
fish shoots snake-like through the thicket, like a long 
silk ribbon, glittering with rosy and azure hues. 
Then comes the fabulous cuttle-fish, decked in all 
colors of the rainbow, but marked by no definite out- 
line, appearing and disappearing, intercrossing, join- 
ing company and parting again, in most fantastic 
ways ; and all this in the most rapid change, and amid 
the most wonderful play of light and shade, altered 
by every breath of wind and every slight curling of 



334 THE ISLAND WORLD 

the surface of the ocean. When day declines, and 
the shades of night lay hold upon the deep, this 
fantastic garden is lighted up in new splendor. Mil- 
lions of glowing sparks, little microscopic medusas 
and crustaceons, dance like glow-worms through the 
gloom. The sea-feather, which by daylight is vermil- 
lion-colored, waves in a greenish, phosphorescent light. 
Every corner of it is lustrous. Parts which by day 
were dull and brown, and retreated from sight, amid 
the universal brilliancy of color, are now radiant in 
the most wonderful play of green, yellow and red 
light; and, to complete the wonders of the enchanted 
night, the silver disc, six feet across, of the moon-fish, 
moves, slightly luminous, among the cloud of little 
sparkling stars. 

The most luxuriant vegetation of a tropical land- 
scape cannot unfold as great wealth of form, while in 
the variety and splendor of color it would stand far 
behind this garden landscape, which is strangely com- 
posed exclusively of animals, and not of plants; for, 
characteristic as the luxuriant development of vegeta- 
tion of the temperate zones is of the sea-bottom, the 
fullness and multiplicity of the marine Fauna is just 
as prominent in the regions of the tropics. What- 
ever is beautiful, wondrous or uncommon in the great 
classes of fish and Echinoderms, Jelly-fishes and Po- 
lypes, and the Mollusks of all kinds, is crowded into 
the warm and crystal waters of the tropical ocean, 
rests in the white sands, clothes the rough cliffs, clings 
where the room is already occupied, like a parasite, 
upon the first comers, or swims through the shallows 
and depths of the elements — while the mass of the 
vegetation is of a far inferior magnitude. It is pecu- 
liar in relation to this that the law valid on land, ac- 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 335 

cording to which the animal kingdom being better 
adapted to accommodate itself to outward circum- 
stances, has a greater diffusion than the vegetable 
kingdom — for the Polar Seas swarm with whales, 
seals, sea-birds, fishes and countless numbers of the 
lower animals, even where every trace of vegetation 
has long vanished in the eternally frozen ice, and 
the cooled sea fosters no sea-weed — that this law, I 
say, holds good also for the sea, in the direction of 
its depth; for when we descend, vegetable life van- 
ishes much sooner than the animal, and even from the 
depths to which no ray of light is capable of pene- 
trating, the sounding-lead brings up news at least of 
livingf infusoria. 

In concluding with Schleiden's description of the 
shallower depths, it might be well to add something 
on the characteristics of deeper soundings. 

According to the records published of the voyage 
of the Challenger, in 1872-3, after leaving the Admi- 
ralty Islands, on the loth of March, a course was 
shaped for Yokohama, with the intention of reaching 
Guam, one of the Ladrone Islands. They lost the 
trades in latitude 1 7 deg. north, and after that, had a 
succession of easterly, northeasterly, and baffling 
winds from every point of the compass, except where 
it was wanted ; thus preventing their visiting either the 
Carolines or Ladrones, which were passed some one 
hundred miles to leeward. On the 23d of March, in 
latitude 11 deg. 24 min. north, and longitude 143 deg. 
16 min. east, bottom was touched at 4,475 fathoms — 
the deepest successful soundings made during the 
whole cruise. Specimens from that depth showed a 
dark, volcanic sand, mixed with manganese. In con- 
sequence of the enormous pressure at that depth 



;> THE ISLAND WORLD 

(some five tons on the square inch), most of the ther- 
mometers were crushed. However, one stood the 
test, and showed a temperature of 33.9 deg., the sur- 
face temperature being 80 deg. Three other attempts 
were made to determine the temperature of water at 
these great depths, but in every instance the instru- 
ments came to the surface in a damaged condition. In 
the case of the Challenger soundings, already noted 
above, the pressure would be fully six tons per square 
inch, at a depth of 4,475 fathoms, or nearly five and 
one-fifth miles. At other points of the Pacific — one, 
in particular, 350 miles east from Yeddo, Japan — a 
depth was obtained of 3,950 fathoms — not quite four 
and one-half miles. In the Torres Straits (separating 
Australia from New Guinea), 2,650 fathoms was shown, 
beine 160 fathoms over three miles. Between New 
Zealand, the Tongas and Fiji Islands, 1,100 to 2,900 
fathoms was found, or from one and a quarter to over 
three and a quarter miles. Still deeper soundings 
have been taken, recently, in the different oceans, but 
in exceptional cases only. In the Atlantic, 90 miles 
north of the island of St. Thomas, 3,875 fathoms, and 
another, near St. Helena, 4,500 fathoms of line was 
paid out, before the bottom was reached. At St. 
Thomas, the bulbs of the thermometers, constructed 
to sustain a pressure of three tons to the square inch, 
were crushed like egg-shells. The temperature of 
the water, generally, in deep soundings, is below the 
freezing-point, and life is found only in its primal 
forms. 

The immense depths reached (but a few of which 
1 have recorded), are the results of practical tests, and 
are not theoretical. In all tests of this character, it is 
absolutely luxessary to brini^ up samples from the 



OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN 337 

floor of the sea ; otherwise, strong under-currents, and 
the pressure of the water, may give a depth, not alto- 
irether rehable. Off the west coast of South America, 
a very deep sounding was obtained, that was more 
amusing than rehable. Such a length of cable was paid 
out (about ten miles), being carried by the under-cur- 
rent in one direction, and by the surface flow in an- 
other, that the force exerted in hauling in, broke the 
line. 

BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 

Of the great ocean's floor — a deep vale, majestic 
and immense in area, lying miles below the level of 
our present shore lines — it might be said, that, if the 
water could be taken away from the great basin of the 
Pacific, not many centuries would elapse, before its 
floor would resemble other portions of the land. 
Then, if it were possible for the human vision to en- 
compass the scene, the valleys, plains, deserts, the 
mountain chains and ravines, the hills and elades, 
the stately course of rivers, or the meandering of 
brooks, would, like a vast panorama, enchant the 
view. The plumed tufts of the cocoanut tree, or its 
northern neighbor, the pine, would wave in the breeze, 
or bend in the storm. The present home, of the 
leviathan of the deep, and the busy litde coral insect, 
would give place to other forms of life, and the island 
world would fade from view, like the slow awakening 
from a summer's dream. 



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